Newly established children wardat DHQ Hospital working properly

Rawalpindi: The newly established children ward at District Headquarters Hospital is working properly however the allied hospitals are still lacking sufficient space to cater to the needs of child population in the district.

Recently developed paediatrics ward at DHQ Hospital has 32 beds in all and at present, it is not overburdened, said Medical Superintendent at DHQ Hospital Dr. Khalid Randhawa when contacted by ‘The News’ on Sunday.

He said the bed occupancy rate at the paeds ward at DHQ Hospital is nearly 100 per cent and it is not receiving extra ordinary burden of patients at the moment. It is important that the other two teaching hospitals in town including Holy Family Hospital and Benazir Bhutto Hospital have a total of 250 beds in all, 130 at HFH and 120 at BBH. Even in healthy season when there is no epidemic or outbreak of any infection, the paediatrics departments at the HFH and BBH have to keep nearly 400 child patients in wards and it is a common practice at HFH and BBH to keep two and even three child patients on a single bed. When asked, Dr. Randhawa said the situation of paeds ward at DHQ Hospital is not like that of HFH and BBH and the DHQ Hospital does not have to keep to two to three child patients on a single bed and it may be because the paeds ward has started working recently. The HFH and BBH that operate complete paediatrics departments have been facing severe shortage of space in wards at paediatrics departments for years and no extension plan in the two hospitals have ever come up with success in accommodating child patients requiring hospitalization at allied hospitals. According to health experts, the provision of 32 beds at DHQ Hospital for child patients would not be sufficient to improve pathetic condition of paeds departments at the allied hospitals.