SIALKOT: The Daska Civil Hospital is in need of a major overhaul to make it a complete health facility catering to the needs of the patients 24/7 as it is currently facing the myriad problems like shortage of staff, including specialists and surgeons, inadequate shifts and absence of medicines like insulin.

The hospital is the biggest public health facility of the tehsil and more than 1,000 to 1,500 outdoor patients visit it daily for treatment.

The diabetic patients don’t find insulin at the hospital and they have to buy it from the private medical stores which is not affordable for many of them.

Talking to Dawn, the patients, including Ghulam Hussain, Muhammad Bashir, Saeed Ahmed, Abid Hussain, Sultan Mahmood, Sakeena Bibi, Surraya Bibi and Parveen Akhtar, said insulin was not available at the hospital for the last one and half months and they had been told that the health department had not provided the hospital with insulin.

The infirmary needs medical specialists in the second shift. At present, the hospital has only single shift which is not enough to deal with the number of patients.

Muhammad Iqbal (73), a patient from Pasrur, said there should also be a second shift of the medication with the medical specialist doctors at Daska Civil Hospital instead of putting the indoor or outdoor patients at the mercy of the general physicians deputed in the emergency ward.

There are only one general surgeon, one child specialist and one cardiologist in the hospital and this increases workload on the general surgeon. The surgeon conducts surgeries two days per week. Sometimes the patients have to wait for their surgeries (minor or major) for six months.

Having the single cardiologist, the patients are left at the mercy of general physician after the end of the single shift of the duty (from 8am to 2pm) daily. In short, every heart patient is being checked at the cardiology ward once in every 24 hours. Resultantly, the patients suffering from heart troubles are forced to go to private clinics.

The hospital also lacks a trauma centre for the patients in critical condition who are often referred to Gujranwala and Lahore hospitals.

The patients have urged Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Gujranwala Commissioner retired Capt Muhammad Asif, Sialkot Deputy Commissioner Dr Farrukh Naveed and District Health Authority Chief Executive Officer Dr Latif Ahmad Sahi to ensure the provision of the direly needed insulin and other facilities at Daska hospital.

Medical Superintendent Dr Javaid Sahi said the hospital management had repeatedly brought the situation into the notice of the high-ups of the provincial health department regarding the missing facilities, including unavailability of insulin.

According to the hospital management, one seat of additional medical superintendent, six posts of additional principal medical officer (APMO), three posts of (APWMO), one seat each of anesthetist, dermatologist , psychiatrist, pathologist, physiotherapist ,gynaecologist, ENT, four seats of senior medical officers (SMOs), four seats of SWMOs, one post of nursing superintendent, 10 of women medical officers (WMOs),two seats of ECG technicians , one seat of store keeper, two seats of the junior clerks have been lying vacant at hospital since long.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2018