LAHORE: Enormous financial burden and turnover of patients has brought many financial, administrative and healthcare matters at the Lahore General Hospital to a ‘standstill’.

At present, the SNE (schedule of new expenditure) against several schemes await approval of the health and finance departments. Also, a case for the creation of more than 1,200 new positions at the LGH has been shelved.

The ‘indifferent attitude’ of the health bureaucracy towards these incomplete schemes of the teaching hospital has added to the miseries of the patients, especially those visiting it from other parts of the country for neuro-related specialised treatment.

Housed over an area of 256 kanal on Ferozepur Road, the hospital is one of the biggest in terms of number of patients. It is said to be attending a major chunk of the patients being referred to the state-run hospitals in Punjab with brain tumor and head injuries.

Among the vital projects awaiting approval for many years are establishment of Punjab Institute of Neuro Sciences (PINS), allocation of funds, staff and equipment for the 300 newly-sanctioned beds, Phase I, Phase II and Phase III.

Some medical experts associated with the institute are forced to predict that the health facility may turn a “beggar house” which it was originally proposed to be.

According to documents, the institute had intimated the government three years ago that the turnover of patients had increased manifold at the LGH and it was forced to install 500 additional beds to accommodate them with the funds being arranged on a self-help basis. The management further said the institute would not be able to continue healthcare services to the patients being admitted against these 500 “unauthorised” beds due to scarcity of funds.

It asked the health department to increase the hospital’s bed strength, staff and budget ‘officially’ to meet the expenses. An SNE was forwarded to the health department which issued a notification on Oct 23, 2013 to officially convert it into a 1,000-bed teaching hospital but no budget was enhanced.

Besides, the case of hiring 650 doctors, nurses, paramedics and other staff against the beds which were functioning before the issuance of notification is still pending approval.

The Punjab Institute of Neuro Sciences was one of the long-awaited and highly critical schemes of the LGH as a large number of patients with brain tumor, trauma and head injuries return without treatment due to space problem. The proposal of PINS was floated in 2007 but many neurosurgeons of the institute could not materialise it in their tenure due to apathy of the government. Some of these neurosurgeons had served the institute as head.

An SNE -- PINS Phase-I -- was forwarded to the government which only sanctioned Rs300 million after years’ delay in July this year out of the immediately required funds of Rs800 million. The amount was lying unused since then as the building department EXEN told the institute management that this amount was insufficient to make the PINS fully functional.

He said the release of Rs800 million in one go would help materialise this scheme.

The documents say a revised PC-I was forwarded to the health department on Jan 18, 2010 under a scheme “Master Plan Phase-II of LGH. The case was awaiting approval of Rs926 million including Rs708 million as building cost and Rs218 million for equipment. The health department is also to approve staff for the LGH under the same scheme.

The institute had sent the case to create 511 new positions that also included 21 positions in BPS-18, 84 in BPS-17 and 54 positions in BPS-14. It had submitted a total cost of Rs66.7 million against these positions but the case is yet to be approved.

As for the Phase III, the LGH management is still awaiting approval of new staff to make functional 18 operating theatres, 24 private rooms and other related building components.

Currently, the 1,000-bed institute has only 12 private rooms and that too have been reserved for the patients admitted to the neuro departments only.

Health Secretary Jawad Rafique told Dawn that the chief minister had already taken notice of the sorry state of affairs at the LGH and constituted a committee headed by the chief secretary to address the long-awaited demands of the institute.

Its first meeting was scheduled for Monday last but the committee could not meet as the CS had to go to Islamabad for an official engagement. “We are again convening meeting of the committee this week,” the health secretary said.

He further said he had again asked LGH Chief Executive Prof Dr Anjum Habib Vohra to prepare working papers to present them in the coming meeting.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2014