RAWALPINDI, Oct 7: The plan to meet medical and paramedical staff shortage in the city hospitals has hit snags, jeopardizing their preparations to cope with emergency situation, sources told Dawn on Sunday.

These hospitals were put on red alert a couple of weeks back in view of the impending Us-led coalition forces’ attack on Afghanistan and fears of epidemic outbreak due to massive influx of refugees.

The shortage was conveyed to the provincial health minister Prof (Dr) Mehmood Ahmad Chaudhry, who had promised to get the ban on hiring of staff lifted by the Punjab governor, specially for the Rawalpindi district hospitals.

However, sources said, the request submitted by the health minister to the governor has fallen victim to the bureaucratic snags and the officials in the governors secretariat were causing inordinate delay in provision of staff to these hospitals by raising unnecessary objections.

The minister in his summary to the governor had taken the plea that in view of Rawalpindi’s strategic position the immediate filling of vacancies in the city hospitals is necessary, the sources maintained.

After putting the hospitals on red alert the authorities had been asked to drastically enhance the capacity of the hospitals by almost 25 per cent.

For this purpose the authorities had also planned to meet the deficiency of equipment and medical supplies.

The request moved before Governor Mohammad Safdar had sought to appoint doctors and other technical staff on contract for a period of one year.

The city’s autonomous hospitals had requested for around 300 doctors and more than 500 nurses. The hospitals had also wanted approval for appointment of operation theatre staff, radiologists, laboratory assistants, dispensers, dressers, sanitary workers and security staff.

These hospitals are having staff much less than the present bed strength. The existing staff had been sanctioned on the earlier bed strength and had not been revised eversince it was increased sometime back.

Holy Family Hospital’s existing bed strength is around 550, but its staff is according to its previous capacity of 350 beds. Due to this shortage the new building of the hospital could not be commissioned and expensive electro-medical equipment is lying unused.

Similarly the District Headquarters Hospital’s bed capacity was enhanced from 282 to 357, but there had been no corresponding increase in the staff requirement.

The district health department sources said they were facing a shortage of around 30% and had requested for filling of 595 vacancies in the hospitals located on the periphery. Of these 595 vacancies 124 were gazetted.

Giving details of their requirement, they said, there are vacancies for 2 THQ hospital medical superintendents, 8 senior medical officers, 55 medical officers, 6 woman medical officers, 10 dental surgeons, 32 LHVs, 65 medical technicians, rural health inspectors 26, microscopists 9, dispenser/dresser 50, vaccinators 31 and communicable disease control supervisors 22.

The fear of an outbreak of epidemic due to the influx of unscreened refugees in Rawalpindi district loom large putting the hospitals under additional pressure. The district is threatened with polio, measles, haemorrhagic fever, diarrhoea, dysentery, and other water borne diseases epidemics as hundreds of refugees daily move into the district.