Messy affairs of Vehari DHQ Hospital

VEHARI: People have demanded Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif make a surprise visit to the District Headquarters Hospital whose messy affairs have made the life of patients miserable.

The hospital is the only health facility in the area but it has reportedly become a ‘slaughterhouse’ for the patients as a number of them has lost their lives in the last few days either due to the alleged negligence or unavailability of doctors. The main reason behind increase in deaths in emergency ward was reported that the specialist doctors have forbidden the emergency doctors not to make them any call after 2pm. If a patient is brought to the DHQ Hospital after 2pm, he is referred to the Nishtar Hospital in Multan and if the patient has no resources to go Multan, the emergency doctors start ignoring him and consequently he dies.

Another major problem for the patients is non-functional air conditioners in the hospital. It is reported that the air conditioners are repaired every year but the result is zero. The other problem of the hospital is poor sanitary conditions as some sweepers were Muslims and they have refused to work soon after their appointment. They have been appointed on political grounds. The shortage of staff is yet another problem being faced by the patients and their attendants at the hospital.

When contacted, DHQ Hospital Medical Superintendent Ghazanfar Abbas Dharalla said that he was posted here about 45 days ago. When he took the charge, all the generators were out-of-order, he said, adding that now three generators were functional due to his efforts. He said that repair of air conditioners was under way.