Scores of patients but no doctor at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital OPD

No senior consultant or doctor was found doing clinic at the out-patient department (OPD) of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital on Wednesday when a senior officer of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) visited the tertiary-care health facility at around 9am.

A large number of patients were present in the waiting area of the OPD when KMC Health and Medical Services Senior Director Dr Birbal Genani paid a surprise visit to the facility.

“Only two consultants, one from the neurosurgery department and the other from a medical ward, were present at their places but they too were not doing OPDs, while a large number of patients were already waiting for doctors to come and start examining them,” Dr Genani told The News on Wednesday.

Abbasi Shaheed Hospital is the third-largest tertiary-care health facility in the city that is being run by the KMC. Located near Paposh, the hospital caters to a large number of residents of District Central, District West and some areas of District East; however, its services have been deteriorating for the past few years due to negligence on the part of those who are at helm.

Since assuming charge, Dr Genani, who is an ophthalmologist and has also served as the medical superintendent of Spencer Eye Hospital, has paid surprise visits to several hospitals in the city, including Sarfraz Rafiquee Shaheed (SRS) Hospital, Sobhraj Maternity Hospital and several other clinics and dispensaries under the KMC. He has also issued several show-cause notices to heads and absent staff of the medical facilities.

During his visit to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Dr Genani also discovered that no officer from the administration side of the hospital was present on their duty, leaving one of the largest health facilities in the city without any caretaker.

The KMC senior director observed that in the absence of any senior administration official, any mishap could have created serious consequences for patients, authorities and people in general. “Even the chief nursing superintendent was not present on duty and the office was closed at 9am.”

Poor hygienic conditions

The KMC senior director was also shocked by poor hygienic conditions on the hospital’s premises.

“Extremely poor hygienic conditions were observed at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital during my visit of various wards and departments as no sanitary worker was found performing his or her duties during the early working hours at the hospital,” he said, adding that the filthy look of the hospital suggested that it had not been cleaned for weeks.

However, Dr Genani conceded that the emergency department renovated by the Bahria Foundation was tidy as sanitary workers were performing their duties there.

“I have directed the additional medical superintendent and the chief nursing superintendent to take interest in the affairs of the hospital, ensure presence of doctors and administrative staff and improve sanitary conditions at the health facility,” he said.

Dr Genani maintained that the KMC had recently provided important medicines worth Rs170 million to major hospitals, including Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, being managed by the corporation. He added that it was now the responsibility of the hospital’s administration and doctors to dispense the medicines among patients who could not afford to visit private hospitals and buy medicines from private pharmaceutical stores.

The KMC senior director claimed that he and his team at Spencer Eye Hospital used to arrive early despite constraints and examine patients even in the absence of electricity as the hospital was not exempted from load-shedding. He added that he even acquired medicines, spectacles, and other equipment from private donors for poor patients.