RAWALPINDI, Sept 17: The Holy Family Hospital’s plan to start evening outdoor patient department (OPD) has run into snags due to poor planning and mismanagement, doctors said on Wednesday.

The administration had been flirting with the evening OPD project for years and once again this time it took up the plan with the idea of utilizing the postgraduate trainees for the purpose. However, the whole plan backfired quickly due to some inherent flaws and the non-seriousness of the administration in this regard.

The evening OPD had been existing on paper for the last a couple of years and, in fact, two medical officers had even been posted on the assignment but they had not been performing their duties. One of the deputed medical officers has been considered as “above law” due to his connections with the bigwigs of the hospital.

The evening OPD, projected to serve as a filter clinic for the emergency ward, was also aimed at reducing burden on the already overstretched resources. There were also plans for expanding the concept of filter clinics to morning and night shifts. This was very much needed as many of the patients come to the emergency ward with very minor complaints, like headache and for getting their blood pressure checked.

Initially, the casualty medical officers were asked to man the filter clinics but they refused due to their reservation about the plan.

Subsequently, the responsibility was passed on to the postgraduate (PG) trainees who had also refused to accept the responsibility last year.

However, this time the principal of the Rawalpindi Medical College was involved to persuade them and the registrars were subsequently asked to draw up the duty roasters.

The PG trainees made it conditional that the PG trainees of Surgical Unit 1, headed by the principal himself, would perform the duty first. However, as many had been expecting, they failed to turn up. The rest followed the course and refused to work.

Another proposal for engaging the PGTs of all departments, which would have in effect meant only one week’s duty for a PGT during one year or so, was shot down by the administration itself.

Later, attempts were made to involve the regularly-employed medical officers and other members of the administration for running the evening OPD, but they all refused.

Moreover, the lack of commitment on part of the administration is evident from the fact that it provided cabins outside the hospital for the evening OPD-cum-filter clinics, which the doctors considered an unsuitable place to work in.

When asked about the solution to the problem, one of the doctors said: “the way out lies in posting the right people and giving them suitable place to work, besides shunning favouritism by the administration.”

The medical superintendent of the hospital was not available for comments despite repeated contacts.