Patients suffer as LRH stops free medicines

PESHAWAR: The indoor patients at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) have been facing serious hardships ?as the hospital has stopped providing free drugs to the hospitalised patients for the past few weeks.

The lack of drugs at the 1800-bedded hospital has provided opportunities to the doctors to prescribe drugs of choice to the patients.

It has been observed that most of the junior doctors are stated to be involved in exploitation of the poor patients by advising them unnecessary and costly medicines.

This situation has particularly led the poor patients to serious troubles as they can neither afford purchasing expensive drugs nor have the potential to stop the doctors from prescribing them unnecessary and expensive medicines.

In almost all departments of the hospital, indoor patients and their attendants complained that they were forced into buying each and every item from the market.

“This is the biggest hospital of the province and we were told the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government had made all health services free to the indoor patients. The previous system was better than this as patients would at least get some free medicines. But now the patients are required to buy even a syringe from the market,” complained one of several attendants of patients admitted to the over?-crowded paediatric ward.

The doctors on duty confirmed the lack of medicines at the hospital, saying all the patients are required to buy each and every item from the market.

“A total of 60 patients are admitted in this unit. Believe me 30 of them ?cannot afford to purchase antibiotics for survival of their children,” said a paediatrician on condition of anonymity.

He held the doctors responsible for miseries of the poor patients, saying most of the doctors were fleecing the poor patients by prescribing expensive drugs to patients to mint money.

“Right from some seniors to junior doctors of house officer level, every one prescribes medicine of his choice to the patients as there is no check on them from the government and hospital administration,” lamented the paediatrician.

“I will give an example ?of two antibiotics injection Cefotaxine and injection Ceftriaxone. These are being manufactured by more than 50 pharmaceutical companies, including non-registered and promoters and are easily accessible outside the LRH. These companies have made the doctors and particularly the young lot corrupt.”

According to the doctors, patients are being prescribed a drug of one company in the morning shift, and then completely a different medicine with different price is advised in the afternoon round and later absolutely another drug of other brand with totally different price is suggested in the evening session.

“The poor patients and their attendants are surprised but helpless as they? are required to buy whatever the doctors prescribe them,” pointed out the paediatrician.

The patients admitted with Sehat Sahulat card complained, they are given no relief at the LRH as they had to purchase medicines and other items from the market.

“If the LRH administration has failed to provide free drugs to the indoor patients, it should at least ensure that the doctors would not fleece the patients by prescribing them unnecessary and expensive medicines,” said a physician.

Interestingly, the Board of Governors (BoG) of the LRH besides other many tall claims had also announced to establish a central pharmacy where all types of quality medicines would be available to the patients.

When reached, LRH Hospital Director, Dr Khalid Masood Khattak, told The News that the hospital had consumed the budget meant for drugs.

He said they had requested the government for budget to purchase medicines.”There is no doubt that the LRH always remains under pressure from the influx of patients but hopefully the Finance Department will release us the budget for medicines next week,” said Dr Khalid Masood.