Cardiology dept of LRH short of coronary stents

PESHAWAR: The Cardiology Department of Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) is again in the headlines due to the inability of the hospital administration as well as of the Board of Governors (BoG) to ensure the availability of coronary stents to the cardiac patients in the hospital that ended three weeks ago.

Officials in the LRH administration and sources in the Cardiology Department told The News that there had been no coronary stents in the hospital for the past three weeks but the hospital administration failed in making any arrangement.

According to the sources in the hospital administration, the Cardiology Department had already been squeezed by giving the entire department to the corona patients and all routine procedures stopped since the outbreak of the second wave of the infectious disease.

Only cardiac patients brought to the emergency department was entitled to avail the facility of angiography and angioplasty.

However, there have been no coronary stents in LRH for the past three weeks and the cardiologists are helpless to save the lives of the patients being brought to them in an emergency.

“This is the oldest and largest public sector hospital in the province but the Cardiology Department of Hayatabad Medical Complex is far better than us as they are having better cardiac services at the moment. We are tired of bringing this issue into the notice of the hospital administration,” said one faculty member of the Cardiology Department.

Pleading anonymity, he said some of the faculty members had raised the issue on social media as well as WhatsApp groups to draw the attention of the hospital administration or the Board of Governors but it didn’t help.

Another cardiologist said that Cath lab had already been closed for routine procedures and only emergency cases used to be undertaken.

Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Lady Reading Hospital Mohammad Aasim said the tertiary care health facility had a shortage of coronary stents in the past, adding the delay in procurement of the stents in fact created its shortage.

“Actually, a management committee is supposed to approve the procurement of stents. Dean is required to chair the committee and unfortunately, he was on a brief leave due to minor surgery. We will soon procure coronary stents and resume services,” said the spokesman.

“It is sheer cruelty that only angiographies are being done but no angioplasties in the Cath Lab for the past three weeks due to lack of coronary stents in the hospital,” he said.

Chairman BoG LRH Dr Nausherwan Burki had visited LRH three days ago and chaired the board meeting but failed to address this major issue.