May 24, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 18, 1429

KARACHI, May 23: The Civil Hospital Karachi authorities have decided to move the government to up-grade the burns centre, which attends patients from across Sindh and Balochistan.

Despite its significance, the burns centre which run under a public-private partnership could not be developed on modern lines mainly due to shortage of funds and non-availability of trained manpower, said a source in the hospital.

The source said that National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza during a recent visit to the burns centre had pledged her support for the procurement of some new equipment and care units for the burn patients from the provincial or federal government funds. She was apprised of the problems faced by existing doctors and paramedical staff.

The speaker also enquired the health of patients, majority of whom got acid burns, industrial injuries and accidental burns and stressed that the burns centre be upgraded on modern lines.

It has been learnt that Dr Veeromal, the additional medical superintendent (planning and development), with the support of a senior doctor of the burns centre was preparing a PC-1 for the centre to be submitted to the provincial government for approval.“We have prepared the lists of facilities to be procured and now working on the price factor,” Dr Veeromal told Dawn, saying that the federal government would be approached if cost of the scheme went beyond the range of the provincial government.

Some of the facilities that are being intended to be acquired for the hospital’s burns centre include an eight bed-high dependency monitoring unit/ step-down unit, a hydrotherapy unit and electronic knives. Besides, induction of experienced psychologists and physiotherapists was also being under consideration, said the source, adding that there is also the need for a tissue-matching laboratory and skin transplant at the centre.