SIALKOT -  Govt Sardar Begum Memorial Teaching Hospital Sialkot still lacks the basic facilities though it is run under the director supervision of Kh. Muhammad Safdar Medical College Sialkot.

A large number of the perturbed patients and their attendants have expressed grave concern over the miserable situation. They said that there was a dire need of overhauling of all the departments in the teaching hospital.

They complained that most of the doctors and paramedics often remain absent from their duties in Children Ward, Gynecology Ward, Orthopedic Ward, Emergency Ward, surgical wards, especially during the night due to which the patients suffer great difficulties. The patients are left at the mercy of the senior or junior nurses, they said.

The patients added that every night comes with apathy as the patients are left unattended at the mercy of the nurses and they have to wait for the morning to be checked up by the doctors.

During the night, most of the patients and their attendants have to take a nap on the floor in the corridors. There are no proper sitting arrangements for the attendants.

In the morning, long queues of patients could be witnessed in all the wards for their turn to be checked up by the doctors. The patients have also expressed grave concern over the complicated process of getting medicines from the medical store. They said that the staff deputed there for giving medicines was very short in number and the patients and their attendants have to wait for long to reach the window for getting medicines.

Some perturbed women said that it was an uphill task to reach the window of the medical store for getting medicines. Some patients said that the procedure of getting prescription chits was also very difficult.

Abdul Majeed said that her granddaughter was brought to the Children Ward in high fever where the doctor checked him once but now they were waiting for the doctors for the last 12 hours.

Some attendants said that though the internal security system of the teaching hospital had improved but the private security agencies’ personnel often create hurdles in their (attendants) reaching their patients. They alleged that the security personnel often showed favouritism by allowing their loved-ones to go to the wards.

When contacted, the hospital management said that the efforts were being made to improve medical facilities for the patients and other facilities for their attendants. The hospital management claimed that the number of indoor and outdoor patients was growing day by day while the number of doctors and paramedics was very short to facilitate the big number of the patients.

They said that the situation was already brought into the notice of the high ups of Health Department for remedy of the problems of patients, attendants, doctors and paramedics.