Unhealthy state: Most remote health units without necessary staff

Khalabat Township hospital is yet to be taken over by District Health Officer owing to construction deficiencies.

HARIPUR:

In Haripur, the 210-bed District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital is the only place with extensive health facilities, thus depriving people of specialised healthcare closer to home. As a result, the DHQ hospital is overburdened with patients who are forced to travel long distances for various treatments.

Moreover, the 100-bed Women and Children’s Hospital is severely short of doctors.



According to official sources, hospitals in union councils Khanpur, Ghazi, Sera-e-Nehmat Khan and Dingi, each with a 40-bed capacity, are type-D hospitals. The Khalabat Township hospital now enjoys type-C status with 64 beds.

The sources revealed that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa director general of health approved expenses for hospitals in Ghazi, Khanpur and Sera-e-Nehmat Khan three years ago, entailing hiring of four medical officers, a gynaecologist, a surgeon, a medical specialist and a pediatrician. But most of these posts at the hospitals remain vacant. A survey of the hospitals revealed Ghazi hospital has one surgical specialist, whereas Khanpur, Dingi and Sera-e-Nehmat Khan are being run by two to three medical officers each, despite the construction of labour rooms, laboratories and operation theatres.

“Our elected representatives are least concerned about the hardships of their voters,” said Behram Khan, a resident of Sera-e-Nehmat Khan. He said villagers from remote areas have no choice but to travel through exhausting routes to government hospitals in search for cost-effective treatment.



Raja Waheed, a resident of Khoi Mera village in Khanpur, said villagers are forced to go to Taxila, Wah Cantonment or the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi for treatment as the Khanpur hospital had inadequate facilities. Waheed said the out of town travel for healthcare takes a heavy toll on daily wagers and farmers who are barely able to make ends meet.

The Khalabat Township hospital, completed last month, is yet to be taken over by the District Health Officer (DHO) owing to some deficiencies.

DHO Dr Zakim Khan Wazir said damp spots are visible on the roof, the woodwork on the cupboards is incomplete and the residential areas for doctors indicate use of sub-standard construction material.

Wazir, thus, refused to take over the building till the deficiencies are removed. However, the hospital buildings in Khanpur, Ghazi, Sera-e-Nehmat Khan and Dingi have been handed over to the district health department by the Communication and Works Department.

Wazir said there are 86 sanctioned posts of doctors in type-C and D hospitals and basic health units (BHUs) of the district, but only 39 were working at the moment.

Wazir said even though he is new at the job, he has taken up the matter of filling the vacant posts with higher-ups in the provincial government. He agreed that providing complete health facilities and specialised services to villagers in the remote areas would not only lessen the burden on the DHQ hospital but also help curtail their expenses.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2013.