LODHRAN
Mismanagement, corruption and official negligence are the main features at District Headquarters Hospital Lodhran where patients are referred to Bahawal Victoria Hospital due to shortage of medicines, and unavailability of doctors and nurses.
The hospital administration finishes its budget of Rs30 million in just three months, sources said. It does not even have necessary medicines due to which patients are facing severe problems. For getting hepatitis vaccine, bribe has to be given to the storekeeper and whoever refuses to do so is given the time of six months for its availability.
There are 40 vacancies for nurses out of which 20 to 25 nurses work on daily basis and they are also deployed in Nursing School through a specific lobby.
The hospital, located 4 kilometres away from Lodhran on the main Bahawalpur Road, consists of 25 acres land. On the construction of the hospital, millions of rupees were spent. After its completion, the hospital fell victim to corruption and mismanagement as FIRs were registered against several doctors, XENs building and contractors.
It has the capacity of 150 beds but due to substandard construction cracks have appeared throughout the building which is presenting the scene of a ghost house. The building was kept empty for a long time due to which it has fallen victim to wear and tear as substandard material was used in its construction.
The gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that it has been almost five years since the hospital is completed, it is still deprived of gas connection. As it does not have the express line, electricity is not available for 16 hours. Due to low voltage, wards and operation theatres often remain without electricity.
However, petrol allocated for the generators is being extracted by a group of officials who sell it in the market.
Medical Superintendent sold his conscience for 30 million rupees and went to America on visit. The medical superintendent is not willing to do his job diligently.
When contacted, Medical Superintendent Dr Zahid claimed that various issues in the hospital have been resolved and corruption has also been controlled considerably. The nurses would brought back to the hospital, he said.