PESHAWAR, Dec 19: A UK-based charity is establishing the first burns unit in the provincial capital. The director of the Bridging Frontiers, Prof Dr Tahir Hasan, told Dawn on Tuesday that he had held meetings with officials of the provincial health department in this regard, expressing the hope that his organisation would soon be able to make a 15-bed unit at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) operational.

Dr Hasan, who retired as a plastic surgeon from the LRH a few years ago, now lives in Scotland and there he has established the charity.

He said that last year he visited the quake-hit areas of the province and felt that the people badly needed a facility where reconstructive surgery could be undertaken.

"We carried out operations on dozens of earthquake victims in the CMH, Abbottabad. We also distributed medicines worth Rs10 million among the people," he said.

He said during his stay, he noted that there was a need for putting in place facilities for burns patients on a permanent basis so that the people could be treated free of cost. He said he had already held meetings with the secretary of health and chief executive of the LRH in this connection.

"The chief executive of the LRH has agreed to allot us a ward in the under-construction building at the hospital," he said. The ward, besides providing treatment to the burns victims, would serve as a training institute for doctors, nurses and paramedics.

"We would invite plastic surgeons from the UK to train health professionals. Staff would also be sent abroad for training," he said.

The NWFP has no burns unit so far due to which the patients are shifted to Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. The only 12-bed unit in the Khyber Teaching Hospital has no specialist in it.

Dr Tehmeedullah, assistant professor in the plastic surgery unit of the Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), would be looking after the ward. Meanwhile, NWFP Chief Secretary Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi has directed authorities concerned to immediately establish a burns and trauma centre in the HMC.

He gave these instructions while presiding over a meeting convened to discuss the establishment of such centres here on Tuesday. He expressed dissatisfaction over the pace of the work, saying the Rs920million project got delayed due to negligence on the part of the Workers Welfare Board. He directed the officials concerned to hold meetings with the federal government for getting necessary funds to ensure early completion of the project.