Govt hospitals ‘operating’ without doctors

7 doctors treat 600,000 patients in Haroonabad, 30,000 others treated by only 20 in Sargodha.

BAHAWALNAGAR/SARGODHA: Over 600,000 patients in the Haroonabad tehsil headquarters hospital are facing severe difficulties due to the severe lack of basic services at the hospital.

There are 30 seats for doctors at the hospital but medical officials say that only 12 doctors are currently working in the entire hospital. “Most days we cannot even complete our rounds and several patients don’t get looked at for days because there aren’t enough doctors,” said Dr Waleed Safdar, one of the attendings at the hospital. Five of the doctors at the hospital have been on a long vacation for nearly five months and at present there are over 600,000 patients who require medical attention in the district. “That essentially means that there are 7 doctors available to treat 600,000 people,” he said.  Due to unavailability of specialist doctors people have to go to other cities.

Nursing staff at the hospital say that there are not enough hospital kits and that the hospital only has 16 kits to test hepatitis. “We don’t have enough equipment, even syringes and drips aren’t adequate,” said a nurse at the hospital.

Both patients and doctors have complained repeatedly about the severe shortage of staff at the hospital and have appealed to the district administration in this regard.

“We are facing a crisis but nothing is being done,” said Dr Mansoor, an attending at the hospital, who added that even the generator at the hospital wasn’t functioning properly. “I had to stop and wait for three minutes for the electricity to come back on during a surgery last week,” he said.

Meanwhile, executive district officer (EDO) health Dr Rafiq and medical superintendent (MS) Dr Bashir Ahmed said that the only thing lacking at the hospital was medical staff. “There are no issues with regards to facilities but we are severely short staffed,” Ms Bashir Ahmed admitted. A similar situation can be witnessed in Sargodha’s only divisional hospital, which has run short of doctors and other medical staff. Due to the scarcity of staff, the present medical staff is under a lot of pressure and patients’ in the emergency ward say that even emergency cases are examined after long delays. “I saw a patient being brought in after a car accident and he had to wait till the next day before the doctor could even examine him,” said a patient Saleem.

Every year 25,000 t0 30,000 patients visit the hospital for treatment and there are 108 seats reserved for doctors at the hospital. At present, however, there are only 22 doctors at the hospital. “The hospital needs at least 150 nurses but there are only 87 nurses on duty,” said a medical officer at the hospital.

EDO Dr Habib Khan refused to comment on the situation at the hospital.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2010.