Multan hospital facing shortage of funds

MULTAN: Shahbaz Sharif District Headquarters Hospital and subordinate two campuses, mainly serving the city population are facing serious challenges for want of resources and administrative issues, The News has learnt.

The hospital presents a picture of neglect for want of resources and allocation of budget to provide relief to poor patients. The hospital administration has to depend on philanthropists for seeking free medicines for patients. However, the SSDHQ administration claims the Punjab government has provided all possible facilities to serve poor patients. The current biggest challenge of SSDHQ is the availability of medicine as currently no central supply of medicine for this year has been received till now. However, it is currently being overcome by managing the available alternates of essential medicines and purchasing through Local Purchase Budget.

Due to the above-mentioned steps, almost all the indicators have been achieved well and statistics have been improved significantly.

Patients have been facing serious problems relating to bed occupancy, cleanliness, availability of stretchers and wheelchairs, seating arrangement at waiting area, functionality of equipment, and availability of medicine for the last eight months.

The Punjab government had issued strict orders for introducing biometric attendance but the facility could not be equipped with the system. The DHQ department heads, including Medical Superintendent Rao Amjad Ali Khan surveyed each department and tried to solve problems on self-help basis which improved the situation but the hospital was still facing challenges due to inadequate resources.

Two campuses, including Civil Hospital, Fatima Jinnah Hospital and Shahbaz Sharif Campus are also part of SSDHQ and all are facing shortage of medicines, beds and better services. Official statistics have revealed that 2,650 patients have been admitted during the last three months while all the three campuses are carrying out 14 major and 138 minor surgeries on daily basis.

The campuses have done 360 emergencies during the period. Shahbaz Sharif campus is daily receiving more than 1,400 patients in OPD where the sanctioned beds strength is only 60 but 67 beds are functional with the help of philanthropists. Similarly, 350 female patients daily visit Fatima Jinnah Hospital where the sanctioned beds strength is 60 but 45 beds are functional.

Nine hundred patients visit Civil Hospital campuses on daily basis where the beds strength is sanctioned for 61 patients but only 27 beds were found in functional condition. When asked Medical Superintendent, Dr Rao Amjad Ali Khan about the lack of biometric attendance, he said the attendance of all the staff is now monitored on daily-basis and disciplinary actions are taken against those who do not follow the attendance protocols. Moreover, complaint management system has been evolved more efficiently by nominating competent focal persons for timely and effective resolution of complaints.

When asked about shortage of beds he said for proper utilisation of available beds, Pediatrics Indoor Wards have been started at Civil Hospital Campus and the bed capacity of Medical Indoor Wards has been increased. To overcome the bed occupancy issue, more doctors and staff nurses have been appointed at indoor wards and referral system has been revised in order to treat more patients at this hospital within available resources.

Due to the increased patient load in this hospital, number of stretchers and wheelchairs increased and a new system is being devised to manage the availability of stretchers and wheelchairs at the counter all the time. Cleanliness of the hospital has been made better this month as more janitorial supplies have been provided, schedules have been modified and area-specific, task-specific duty rosters have been made, he said.

The functionality and provision of the necessary equipment was ensured. New equipment which has been installed includes Gene Expert Machine, CPAP Unit, Colour Doppler, General Anesthesia Machine, Cardiac Monitor, and Fetal Doppler, he said.

The medical superintendent said the SSDHQ has achieved a lot since its establishment. In March last, Pediatrics Indoor Services at Civil Hospital Campus has been started. A new Gene Expert machine has been installed in one-window TB dots clinic at Civil Hospital Campus. A new CPAP unit has been installed.

A new general anesthesia machine has been installed in Fatima Jinnah Campus. A new colour Doppler machine has been installed in Shahbaz Sharif Campus.

A Recovery Room has been established along with the installation of necessary equipment in Fatima Jinnah Campus. A new cardiac monitor has been provided in Fatima Jinnah Campus.

The new furniture has been provided for the offices of medical officers in OPD of Shahbaz Sharif Campus and Fatima Jinnah Campus. New stretchers and wheelchairs have been provided in Shahbaz Sharif Campus.

When asked about shortage of beds he said the bed capacity of Medical Indoor Wards has been increased to two times than it was before. Proper seating arrangement has been developed for Patients of Eye Department (OPD & Surgery) at Shahbaz Sharif Campus. The Eclampsia Room has been modified in Fatima Jinnah Campus.