Islamabad-The Capital Administration and Development Division, during its four years of existence, has failed to add a single new medical facility to the city to reduce patients’ miseries and burden on the two existing capital hospitals.
The sun of the outgoing year will set with no major development in health sector where the only two facilities, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and Federal Government Services Hospital (Polyclinic), had to tackle large influx of the patients with limited facilities available there.
The Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) had announced construction of three ‘state-of-the art’ hospitals in the federal capital under Prime Minister Health Programme (PMHP), under which the authorities had also announced construction of 46 hospitals across the country.
The hospitals were to be constructed in localities of Humak, Kuri road and Lehtrar road, while 160 kanals of land for each hospital was allocated. Under the project, the two hospitals to be built were of 500 beds while one was of 300 beds. However, tall claims of the government remained a distant dream as the city witnessed no speedy work on any of the facility building.
So far, only land has been demarcated for the mentioned hospitals, however; no serious steps have been taken by the ministry to build any physical structure.
Meanwhile, the PIMS, the largest health facility in the area with around 1,200 beds, struggled in providing better facilities to the citizens and patients visiting from far-flung areas. The hospital received above 15,000 patients daily while the facility was upgraded with only a minor emergency and a pathology lab last year.
The city of around two million population is not only left to the mercy of growing number of private hospitals and clinics, but the administration also failed in facilitating government dispensaries and health units established in the rural areas.
Though the Federal General Hospital was constructed as teaching hospital of Federal Medical and Dental College (FMDC) at Chak Shahzad, but its status was also not upgraded to tertiary care hospital.
The lack of facilities at the dispensaries’ in different localities run by Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and Capital Development Authority (CDA) also increased patients’ burden on the PIMS.
Unfortunately, no new hospital was constructed in the areas adjacent to the federal capital including Rawalpindi which shifted the load on two hospitals of the city. Meanwhile, PIMS administration and Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Butto Medical University (SZABMU) remained at loggerheads for separation of two entities which led to strikes in the hospital, adding to miseries of the patients.
Similarly, Polyclinic, a facility with 800 beds, did not see ground breaking of its extension approved by the CADD. The ministry had proposed extension of the project to double capacity of the facility; however, the hospital went in a legal battle over the land allocated.
The hospital, which receives above six thousand patients daily, remained deprived of any new facility to less the burden and increase capacity of the facility.
Talking to The Nation, Dr Shareef Astori said that construction of new hospital was very necessary for the city as its population had increased very much. He said that in emergency situations, it was always difficult to tackle the burden. “The medical facilities around and out of the city must be upgraded,” he said.
Vice Chancellor SZABMU while talking to The Nation said that the health sector had been ignored during the last five years.
He said that the city required nearly six hospitals to meet the challenge and the PIMS was the country’s top referral hospital. He added that neither new hospitals were built not the funding to the existing hospitals was increased by the government. “On 1,300 beds, 2,500 patients are managed daily while the funds are allocated for 1,300 beds only,” he added.
The VC also said that the excessive patients’ load on the hospital affected quality of healthcare as it became difficult to manage the burden.
