18 January 2004	Sunday	25 Ziqa'ad 1424

ISLAMABAD, Jan 17: The emergency ward of the Federal Government Services Hospital (FGSH) was on Friday temporarily shifted to the nearby nursing school due to the ongoing renovation work at the ward.

Sources at the FGSH told Dawn that the decision had been taken on the directives of federal health minister, who visited the hospital, commonly known as Polyclinic, ahead of the recently concluded Saarc summit to review emergency arrangements.

The shifting of the ward is creating a lot of problems for the patients. Although the nursing school is situated not very far away from the hospital premises, a number of patients had to return after failing to locate the school-building.

The sources said that staff had been deputed at the emergency ward to guide the patients to the new location.

The hospital administration said the emergency unit had been closed for 72 hours, during which new tiles would be laid besides other necessary uplift work.

However, the sources said the time was not enough to complete the work and it might be extended.

"There are 11 rooms in the emergency ward, all of which need renovation and the 72 hours time seems not to be sufficient," the sources added.

The emergency ward also has a minor operation theatre, a six- bed ward for male patients, a three-bed ward for female patients, besides a consultation room, ECG, X-ray rooms, etc.

The sources said the situation had created some difficulty for the on-call doctors as earlier they needed a few minutes to reach the emergency department to attend any emergency case.

The staff on duty in the emergency ward criticized the administration for selecting the nursing school as temporary emergency ward because, they added, it enhanced their work load.

At the same time, patients who need to have X-ray and other tests have to come to the main hospital in any case.