LAHORE: The Sir Ganga Ram Hospital seems to have halted its healthcare services as it has stopped conducting around 80pc of tests, provision of over 90pc medicines, including life-saving ones, and cut the number of surgeries by 50pc.

An official, privy to information, says two highly expensive machines, namely CT Scan and MRI, have been lying dumped in the stores for the last six months in the name of renovation under the revamp programme.

Talking about the negligence of the institute’s top hierarchy, he says, 25 expensive batteries of the CT Scan machine have reportedly been stolen and the management hushed the matter to avoid inquiries. The hospital authorities have taken the health secretary also on board and shelved the alleged theft case, the official says. Consequently, patients are forced to go to the private labs around the hospital for tests from where the admin and other staff of the hospital are allegedly getting shares.

The official source laments that routine tests, including those for the diagnosis of diseases like hepatitis B and C, liver, kidneys and heart etc, mandatory before every surgery in emergency wards, are also not being done.

Missing facilities include vital tests, medicines and surgeries; patients suffering for last six months

“For example, the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) test recommended for measuring the amount of ALP in the blood is not available. Abnormal levels of ALP maybe a sign of a wide range of health conditions, including liver disease, bone disorders and chronic kidney disease.”

The other tests not being done include TG/HDL, CK-MB, calcium, MG, phosphorus, lipase, electrolytes, V/m, thyroid function, Vitamin D, HCG etc.

One of the major factors for the missing test facility is the shortage of kits and reagents as the institute has failed to pay liabilities to the agents/companies.

In some cases, the official says, some doctors arrange money on their own to purchase kits from the private market to help poor patients but this is done randomly for the needy and deserving patients.

About the life-saving drugs, the official says, all kinds of medicines, even those prescribed to every second patient like panadol, are also not available in the hospital.

Following the critical shortage of panadol tablets, the doctors are prescribing panadol syrup to patients with high-grade temperature and body pains.

Similarly, omeprazole (capsule), a life-saving drug, mandatory for treatment at every emergency unit and prescribed to every patient with abnormal sugar level, is not available in the official supply for the last many months and the critical patients are being treated with ‘omeprazole sache’, a funny way to conceal ‘another criminal negligence crime’, the official says.

The life-saving heparin injection is highly important for heart seizure as it helps decrease clotting ability of the blood and prevents harmful clots from forming in blood vessels. The official says that in medical settings, non-availability of this life-saving drug at the government teaching institute like the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital is not less than a crime.

There are reports that the doctors at the hospital have no option but to ask the admin to procure medicines through the local purchase (LP) system. Under this system, the medicines are purchased at many times high prices from an agent of choice, the official informs, alleging that the hospital management is getting hefty shares from the agents, making an enormous burden on the national exchequer.

“Same is the case with Profasi injection used to recommend for pregnant women at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. It is responsible for the normal development of eggs in a woman’s ovary. The drug is also commonly used for diagnosis or treatment of infertility in women. The hospital is known as one of the largest public health facilities for gynae-related treatment in Punjab but this life-saving drug is also not available at the hospital for the last many months. The patients are forced either to buy from the private pharmacies outside the hospital or made available by the management through the LP, the official says.

Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique paid five to six frequent visits to this mega teaching institute since he assumed office while health secretary Ali Jan also visited it multiple times.

The members of Punjab Assembly and other relevant authorities also visit the hospital to attend events or meetings but all the ‘visiting dignitaries’ have shut their eyes to the hospital issues they are kept in the dark by the hospital management, the officer alleges.

Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Medical Superintendent (MS) Prof Dr Moeenuddin declared the revamp as one of the leading factors behind the sorry state of affairs. He claimed things would improve next week, refusing to further comment on the patients’ troubles on the pretext of his busy schedule.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2024