KARACHI, Feb 6: A paediatric intensive care unit, completed with a cost of around Rs4 million at the Civil Hospital Karachi, could not be made functional for the last two years due to non-availability of technical hands.

According to the Civil Hospital sources, the authorities have been requested repeatedly for recruitment and necessary training of staff for the unit, which was first of its kind under the Sindh government in the province, but to no avail.

As many as 36 staff, including one senior medical supervisor, two senior medical officers, eight medical officers, eight nurses, was approved in principle for the smooth running of the unit, being a technically acute emergency unit, added a source.

A visit to the unit showed that the space, eight beds and the related monitoring equipments, as well as ventilators, were lying idle. The unit was aimed at handling serious child patients and improving the rate of their survival and quality of care.

About 5,000 to 10,000 patients of serious nature are brought to three paediatric units of the Civil Hospital every year. Had the paediatric intensive care unit been made operational patients with respiratory problems, cardiac, typhoid, severe and complicated diarrhoea, renal and liver failures, accidental poisoning, and other cases of general care could have been monitored and handled more efficiently at least during the last two years, remarked a doctor.

When contacted the head of Paediatric Unit II, Prof Iqbal Memon, said that despite efforts the new expenditure, sanctioned for technical and administrative staff, could not be incorporated in time and that was why the financial implications were still remained to be met out.

However, he pointed out that the government should give priority to the matter so that the specialized unit could be utilized in the best interest of poor patients requiring high dependency monitoring.