04 June 2004	Friday	15 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

PESHAWAR, June 3: Thousands of attendants of patients at the city's main hospitals have to pass hot days and nights of the season in the open because of lack of waiting rooms.

"A large number of people from far-flung areas have no option but to stay on bare floors outside the wards in the hospitals owing to lack of waiting rooms," said a doctor.

The Lady Reading Hospital, the Hayatabad Medical Complex and the Khyber Teaching Hospital have a few waiting rooms which can accommodate about 100 people each. The number of attendant at each of the hospitals is more than 1,000, because each of those has over 1,000 beds.

Fans and lights at the waiting rooms are missing or out of order, which makes it impossible for people to stay there. Water-coolers are also not available in the rooms. Many patients said they had to buy expensive bottled water from the market.

Patients admitted to the hospitals have to bring two or three attendants with them due to shortage of nursing staff and non-availability of indoor pharmacy services.

Several attendants complained that the hospitals did not have proper facilities for providing medicines. "We provide nursing care to our patients, besides purchasing food and medicines from the market," said an attendant of a patient.

Some attendants alleged that they had to pay Rs20 to Rs50 as bribe to ward boys to stay inside the wards at night. Dozens of hotels situated around the hospitals charge Rs100 to Rs300 per night but the attendants cannot stay away from the patients.

A health department official said the government did not have funds to build waiting rooms. "We built some waiting rooms but people steal fans and tube-lights from there. The bulk of hospitals' budgets are consumed by salaries, maintenance and purchase of medicines," he said.