Ill-equipped: Tehsil hospital in Bisham remains bereft of doctors, equipment

Labour room remains unused for the past five years in absence of female specialists.

SHANGLA:

The labour room at Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital Bisham has not been utilised for the past five years as there are no female gynaecologists available to treat pregnant women.

Located in Minister for Health Shaukat Yousafzai’s hometown, THQ Hospital not only caters to locals but is also the main health facility for people from across Shangla, Kohistan, Battagram and Torghar.

The hospital has only six medical specialists; all other posts stand vacant.



“We are facing immense problems because of the lack of doctors,” Bisham resident Ameer Nawaz informed The Express Tribune. “Inexperienced nurses have been hired by the hospital administration to provide treatment to female patients; some have lost their lives because of this.”

Patients are compelled to visit private hospitals and clinics for proper treatment at expensive prices, said Nawaz.

The health minister, who visited Bisham at the height of the dengue crisis, had promised facilities would be provided to the hospital; but so far no steps have been taken.

Residents claimed when the minister visited; machines, doctors and nurses were brought in from Mansehra to dress up the hospital for Yousafzai’s benefit. Immediately after the minister left, everything was taken back.

“We informed the provincial government several times about the lack of medical staff and women doctors for the labour room but there has been no progress,” claimed Mansoor Ahmad Khan who is in charge of the THQ Hospital.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2013.