ISLAMABAD: Citizens on Monday demanded the quarters concerned for immediate replacement of the pathetic registration system at the Out Patient Departments (OPDs) of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) to facilitate the incoming patients.

According to them, due to this outdated registration system for entry and issuance of check-up slips, incoming patients have to wait for hours in long queues despite their poor health condition.

They said that due to shortage of staff and limited registration counters for male and female patients, incoming patients who visit the hospital from far-flung areas of the country have to face several hardships.

 They also complained of shortage of medical and paramedical staff at the Out Patient Departments to handle the patients. A patient, Aslam Khan said that Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences is a major hospital of the capital, but it has been facing severe shortage of staff at its Out Patient Department’s registration desk. He added that patients and attendants have to wait for hours to get a slip from the staff. 

He added that getting a check-up slip for Out Patient Department has become an anxious task for patients at PIMS. He complained that mostly trainee doctors have been assigned duties in the Out Patient Departments, who have lack of experience. He said that authorities concerned should take notice of this issue and assign sufficient staff at Out Patient Departments.

Amir Latif, a patient at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Out Patient Department said, “I had to wait for hours and after several requests, hospital staff issued a check-up slip for medical consultancy,” he complained. He said that the hospital needs to hire more staff for the registration desk to issue check-up slips timely to patients besides the deployment of additional trained medical staff at its Out Patient Departments.

“It is really intolerable for serious patients to wait for hours when they are in urgent need of medical opinion from their respective doctor.”  When contacted an official of the hospital said that trained medical practitioners have been deployed at Out Patient Departments to serve the patients while sufficient staff has been deployed at the hospital registration desk. He added that best medical treatment was being provided to patients by medical and paramedical staff at the hospital.–APP