RAWALPINDI: Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi has established a 10-bed family medicine clinic to provide medical care to patients of all ages for multiple ailments under one roof.

The clinic at present has 10 beds, but its capacity will increase to 20 beds soon, according to Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU) Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Umar. He said for the first time in northern Punjab, the family medicine speciality has been introduced, and MBBS graduates would specialise in this subject before doing their general practice.

“Before the establishment of the department in the medical university, the family physicians had been doing general practice without any speciality, and now they will become specialists in this subject,” he said.

He said that the family medicine clinic was established in Holy Family Hospital with the financial support of a Canadian alumni of RMU, Dr Zahid Raffique, who got specialisation in family medicine from Canada.

Facility has 10 beds at present; RMU VC says two more teaching hospitals in Pindi to get the same

He said it was common practice in the United States and the United Kingdom that general physicians would get specialisation in family medicine before starting their general practice.

He said the RMU had started a certificate course three years ago and a diploma course in family medicine two years ago, adding that more than 40 doctors got training from the university so far.

He said that initially, the hospital allocated 10 beds for this clinic, and 10 more beds would be added in the indoor facility of the family medicine clinic. He said that the nurses would also be provided training on how to manage patients.

According to the RMU VC, this facility would also be introduced in two other teaching hospitals in the garrison city, and people from Jhelum to Attock would be able to avail themselves of this facility. He said it was unique; only a few private hospitals in the country had it.

He said the RMU was making efforts to provide better educational facilities to its medical graduates regarding common health problems faced by people.

“We focus on [imparting] evidence-based clinical knowledge with modern examination skills to our students. We also pay attention to good healthcare facilities for the patients,” he said.

On the other hand, HFH Medical Superintendent Dr Ijaz Butt said that apart from the establishment of the family medicine clinic in the hospital, RMU also introduced new facilities in the hospital, including a geriatric clinic, a pain relief department, as well as the stroke management clinic.

“All the patients are being given free-of-cost treatment in these departments, and the Punjab government has provided additional funds for these departments,” he said.

He said geriatrics was a medical speciality focused on providing care for the unique health needs of the elderly. “It aims to promote health by preventing, diagnosing, and treating diseases in older people,” he said.

He said that all these new departments were providing facilities to people on different days, adding that initially a day was fixed for each clinic, but the number of days would be increased with more doctors getting degrees in these subjects.

He said that after the revamping of the Holy Family Hospital, the patients got new facilities, and it would be further enhanced. He said that before the renovation of the hospital building, there was no neurological department in the hospital, but we started the department and allocated beds for the wards.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2024