Baqar irked by shortage of medicines, neglected state of Hyderabad Civil Hospital

HYDERABAD: On the second day of his visits to various parts of Hyderabad, Sindh Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar inspected different wards of the Civil Hospital and expressed his anger at shortages of medicines and vaccines and poor sanitary conditions at the health facility.

Justice Baqar went from ward to ward and interacted with patients, attendants, and doctors about the provision of medicines and free lab tests. People voiced their anger over the unavailability of snake-bite vaccines and blood pressure tablets in the pharmacy.

The CM directed DG Dr Waqar, to conduct an inquiry and report to him. He was told that the hospital had a budget of Rs6 billion, and 12,000 to 15,000 patients were visiting its OPD and emergency. He also visited the central pharmacy and found that the record of medicines purchased by the hospital and the medicines issued for the hospital were not being maintained properly. He visited all operation theatres and expressed his displeasure with the administration for their failure to follow the hygiene SOP. Baqar also visited the pathology department, where he was told that 7,000 lab tests were conducted daily. When the CM visited the old building of the hospital, he found it being neglected where the ceiling was crumbling and walls were showing seepage. He called the chief engineer of buildings and told him to start renovating the building. Chief Engineer Arshad Bhutto told the CM that he had a budget of Rs140 million for maintenance and repairs of the hospital, and he would start the work if the funds were released. The CM then and there ordered the release of a budget for the purpose.

Justice Baqar went to the operation theatre, where surgery cases were not being conducted on Wednesday, though they had a number of patients on the waiting list. He warned MS Dr. Shahid Junejo to develop a proper system and make it completely computerized so that the number of patients arriving in the OPDs or in an emergency, admission to various departments, and the number of surgeries scheduled for the day could be checked digitally. The CM snubbed the district health officer for his failure to inspect the hospital and improve its facilities.