SHC tells health dept to explain closure of two CHK wards

Karachi
The Sindh High Court has directed the health department’s focal person to file comments regarding the appointment criteria of specialised doctors in the Civil Hospital Karachi’s (CHK) vascular surgery and isolation wards.
The direction came on a petition filed regarding the closed wards at the CHK. Petitioner Mohammad Nazeer Abbasi, in his application, requested the court to direct the provincial government to make vascular and isolation wards functional.
The petitioner stated that the vascular surgery and isolation wards at CHK, which used to be managed under the supervision of Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), were closed for the past couple of years due to the shortage of specialised doctors.
He said that the head of CHK’s vascular surgery ward, Prof Dr Sohail Ahmed Khan, went on a long leave two years ago but the CHK administration did not arrange for any alternative and the ward was subsequently closed.
He said due to the closure of both wards, hundreds of patients were faced hardships and were forced to go to expensive private hospitals for treatment.
The petitioner requested the court to issue directives for the authorities to reopen the vascular surgery and isolation wards.
The court had been informed by the health department that the vascular surgery and isolation wards at Civil hospital were not working because of the unavailability of a vascular surgeon.
An official of the health department stated that the shortage of a vascular surgeon and staff was the main reason for the department’s closure. He said most of the vascular surgeons left the country as soon as they completed their training.
The official said there was a dearth of adequate human resource and though the department had appointed a number of surgeons, most of them left for abroad as soon as they finished training.
In the previous hearing the court had asked the health department’s focal person if the trainee doctors could be made to sign a contract to serve Civil hospital for a number of years after they completed their training. The official sought time to file the comments after seeking directions from his superiors.