CM asked to meet shortage of doctors at Dir DHQ hospital

DIR: The people of Upper Dir have asked the chief minister and the provincial minister for health to meet the shortage of doctors at the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) and basic health units to ensure the provision of better healthcare facilities to them.

They complained that the local elected representatives did nothing to solve the issue of the shortage of doctors particularly the specialists. Bakht Shahzeb, a resident of Kalkot, said that he was a poor man and had brought his son for treatment to the DHQ hospital in Dir but he was referred to Peshawar owing to the shortage of doctors. He added that being a poor man he could not afford to take his son for treatment to Peshawar.

The relative of the another patient said that patients from far-away areas of the district including Doog Darra, Upper Kohistan, Brawal tehsil, Usheri Darra, and others could not be treated at the DHQ for lack of specialist doctors. According to the record of the DHQ hospital, most vacancies of doctors have been lying vacant since long due to which more than one million people are facing difficulties in getting treatment.

The hospital record show that 82 vacancies of doctors out of 110 sanctioned posts were lying vacant. Only 28 doctors are working in the DHQ hospital in Dir who are mostly medical officers. The record says that only six specialists out of 22 sanctioned posts were working at the DHQ hospital. The sources said that a month back six doctors, including an ophthalmologist, an orthopedic and a dental surgeon were transformed from the DHQ and it added to miseries of the patients. Not only the people of Upper Dir but patients from Chitral districts are also dependent on this Category-B hospital. Though the DHQ management is striving to facilitate the patients within the available resources, it is very difficult to run the medical facility due to shortage of doctors. According to sources in Health Department in Upper Dir, 31 BHUs in the district did not have any doctor. The DG Health Services had announced to fill the vacant posts by March 31, 2019. However, the announcement could not be materialized. Dr Imtiaz Ahmad, Medical Superintendent DHQ hospital, said that they had dispatched the demand about the shortage of doctors to the provincial Health Department. He admitted that they were struggling to provide treatment to patients in their limited resources.