RAWALPINDI: Two hospitals in the garrison city will soon start postgraduate intensive care training for doctors to establish critical care systems.

Earlier, the critical care system was available only at the Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi and the Shifa International Islamabad. In Punjab, the system will be introduced at the Holy Family Hospital and the Benazir Bhutto Hospital Rawalpindi in the first phase. Later, it will be extended to other hospitals in the province.

For awarding fellowship of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the critical care, a team from the college visited the two hospitals in the garrison city and inspected their ICUs.

Rawalpindi Medical College (RMC) Principal Prof Dr Mohammad Umer told Dawn that the college established the departments of emergency and critical care at the HFH and the BBH and upgraded the ICUs at a cost of Rs53.5 million.

“The ICU at the HFH has 20 beds and that at the BBH 10 beds. The government provided Rs50 million and Rs3.5 million were collected through donations for the project.”

He said the RMC would soon introduce the system in these two hospitals in coordination with the United Kingdom-based doctors and surgeons.

“Under this system, the emergency call and management of critical patients would be enforced with the help of trained doctors and paramedical staff. The training of nurses on critical care by doctors from the UK has also been started in the garrison city through a video link,” he said.

Meanwhile, a team of the Punjab Healthcare Commission will inspect the HFH to ascertain whether or not its medical care is up to the standards set by the provincial government.

The team inspected the BBH two months ago and will finalise a report by the end of this year.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play