PESHAWAR: People have been dying of simple medical problems due to unavailability of super specialties in the district headquarters hospitals of the province, senior doctors say.

“Majority of the patients die due to simple injuries because of nonexistence of specialised facilities in the district headquarters hospitals,” senior consultants told Dawn.

Four teaching hospitals, including the Lady Reading Hospital, Khyber Teaching Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex in Peshawar, and Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad, have the tertiary care facilities, but all the patients couldn’t avail of the facilities there easily.

“For instance, patients requiring treatment related to neurosurgery, urology, nephrology, paediatrics surgery, gastroenterology, cardiac surgery, vascular, obstetrics, gynaecology, psychiatry, endocrinology, plastic, reconstructive and cosmetic surgery had to visit the teaching hospitals to be able to get treatment. However, it was not possible for the poor people to travel to big cities,” according to specialist doctors who spoke with this reporter.

Presently, patients needing specialised care are being taken to Peshawar hospitals

The postgraduate medical institute (PGMI) has done great progress in developing super specialist care in Peshawar, but the district level hospitals still lack such specialties due to which a bulk of patients have been dying of manageable complications.

The PGMI, which produces specialist doctors, has also been asking the government to put in place these services at the district hospitals. “We can provide trained doctors to the district hospitals which will give timely medical services to the local population,” consultants say.

This will ensure timely treatment besides saving money of the patients they spend on visiting Peshawar, they said.

Consultants argue that they have been writing to the government from time to time to take steps for putting in place such specialties in the district hospitals so that the people avoid travel to big hospitals.

“We have trained staff to start these specialties in the district, but it required the government’s directives,” they said.

The need for provision of super specialties came to light a few days ago when Rafaqatullah Babar, special adviser to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, sustained head injury in a road traffic accident in Shangla district. He was rushed to Saidu Teaching Hospital, where bleeding inside his head was diagnosed. A simple operation of burr hole could have saved his life, but unavailability of neurosurgical facility cost his life.

“This procedure is so simple that it is carried out by trainee medical officers on emergency duty in Peshawar hospitals. Owing to lack of the facility, he was rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital,” they said.

“Unfortunately the delay in shifting him to Peshawar was too long and subsequent efforts to save his life proved futile,” they said.

Such incidents happening in any district entail the same results as the local hospitals can’t handle serious patients.

“Lack of these services and improper management in district hospitals results in complications because the patients are initially taken to the local hospitals and then shifted to Peshawar which results in deterioration of their health due to time loss,” they said.

The experts said that the government should equip the district hospitals with super specialties not only to provide timely treatment to the patients and save their lives, but also lessen burden on Peshawar hospitals, which are the final destination of such patients.

A decade ago, the Peshawar hospitals had to receive patients with problems of eye, medical, psychiatry, skin etc., but upon the availability of such specialties in their native hospitals, they don’t visit Peshawar anymore.

“With the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government contemplating rehabilitation of Malam Jabba Ski Resort and the scenic mountains of Swat, etc, it won't be a bad idea to strengthen at least some super specialties in places such as Swat, Abbottabad and Dera Ismail Khan,” a senior specialist remarked.

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2014