KARACHI: Civil hospital’s trauma centre hits hurdles
By Faiza Ilyas
KARACHI, March 3: Construction has not started on Civil Hospital Karachi’s trauma centre even after a year because the CHK management and health department officials have failed to address stakeholders’ concerns.
A brainchild of former CHK medical superintendent, Professor M. Saeed Quraishy, the trauma centre project was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) a year ago. The project was called Accident & Emergency and Ancillary Services Complex. The objective was to deal efficiently with the increasing number emergency cases.
The three-year project was in the headlines recently when it was reported in the press that the Services Hospital would be demolished to establish the trauma centre. After facing stiff opposition from all quarters regarding demolition, the concerned officials reverted to the original plan, that of building the trauma centre on Chand Bibi Road. The 7,222 square yards earmarked for the project includes the present eye and neurosurgery departments, the quarters housing city government employees and paramedical staff of the hospital.
Medical Superintendent of CHK, Dr Kaleem Butt says to date the management has failed to find alternate space for the two departments and this was why the project was being delayed. “We will do nothing that will affect these departments’ services even for a short time. These departments will eventually be a part of the trauma centre,” he said.
Meanwhile unrest prevails among doctors of these departments. “When the plans for the trauma centre were made, no suggestions were sought from us. We came to know about the project from the Press,” complained Dr Junaid Ashraf, head of the neurosurgery department. He warned the unit required close proximity with the operation theatre and CT scan. If all three are not in close proximity, shifting the unit even for a short period would seriously hamper its function and endanger patients’ lives.
He supported the trauma centre, but observed that it shouldn’t be built by dismantling existing services, which, he said, were equally important to the community. Besides, the department would also lose the CPSP’s recognition and the status of a postgraduate centre for training when its services, facilities, academic and teaching activities would be curtailed.
Dr Adrees Adhi, in-charge of the ophthalmology department, Unit 2, CHK, also shared Dr Ashraf’s concerns and said shifting would be detrimental and affect patients. The in-charge of Unit 1, Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Shaikh, has been working at CHK for 20 years and is the project director of Prevention of Blindness in Sindh. Expressing doubts over the promise that the project would be completed in two years, he said: “The department was shifted to the present location in 1989 and was meant to be a 7-storey building. But, even after 18 years the building is still functioning on the ground floor. With this track record, is it possible to build a 9-storey structure in two years,” he asked.
The eye unit of CHK is the only government referral centre for eye diseases in Sindh. It is equipped to perform all sorts of complicated surgeries. Thousands of patients come from Balochistan, southern Punjab and interior Sindh.
The doctors working in units being considered to temporarily house the eye and neurosurgery departments, are apprehensive the shifting will affect their departments.
Chairman Board of Governors CHK and Lyari General Hospital Abu Shamim Ariff, said only an option that did not affect other departments’ services would be exercised. The project’s design will be submitted by the end of March.
The trauma centre project, which has no detailed study report, according to health department officials, would be completed on 50:50 cost sharing basis between the federal and the provincial governments. The federal government allocated Rs50 million last year and Rs37.5 million this year for it while the provincial government has allocated Rs150 million this year. The CHK would get the funds as soon it starts work on the project. The annual recurring cost of the project is Rs150 million to be borne by the hospital. Interestingly, the first trauma centre in the city was constructed almost a decade ago near Ojha Sanatorium on University Road. Owing to financial constraints, the building was sold to the private sector.
