Sorry state: Going to PIMS? Good luck finding a bed

Recent donation by US govt makes only slight difference in overcoming shortage.

ISLAMABAD:

It is no surprise that there is a chronic shortage of essentials, such as beds and other medical equipment in the capital’s largest public hospital, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims).

This is why a recent donation by the United States government, 40 manual wheelchairs, 25 stretchers and 50 drip stands, to the hospital may not help ease the scarcity.

Talking to The Express Tribune, a senior official at Pims, requesting anonymity said the patient load is increasing on a regular basis and the hospital is unable to facilitate every patient due to the shortage of beds.

“We feel horrible when we have to refuse admission to seriously ill patients due to the bed shortage,” said the doctor.

The doctor said that since the hospital was established in 1985, it did not purchase or receive hospital goods as donations from any local or international organisation. “The existing hospital equipment is in pathetic condition. Broken stretchers, wheelchairs and beds, which should otherwise be discarded, are being used owing to the acute shortage,” said the doctor.

Irshad, an attendant at the gynaecology department, said “I have been looking for a wheelchair for over an hour but I’ve yet to find one. All I can see are broken wheelchairs which obviously I cannot use for my pregnant wife.” It is painful to see that the government is wasting money on trips abroad rather than spending on things which could benefit people, he added.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Dr Ayesha Eshani, the spokesperson for Pims, said, “There are around 12 inpatient wards at the hospital with around 850 beds, however, there is a lot of space in the wards to place stretchers to admit more patients, but unfortunately the hospital lacks these.”

The hospital still needs 60 more beds and 25 more stretchers, apart from other necessary items, she added.

“The government has imposed a ban on buying new surgical equipment, while the recent 30 per cent cut in the hospital’s budget has made it more difficult to provide adequate healthcare to patients.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2013.