KARACHI, Oct 1: The eight-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the paediatric unit-III of civil hospital, established at a cost of Rs3.8 million early this year, could not made operational due to the non-availability of staff.

The In-charge of the unit, Prof Iqbal Memon, told APP on Tuesday the ICU was one of its kind among those existing in any of the government hospitals in Sindh. Besides staff, he said, it also required Rs10,000 per day as running expenses for which cooperation of philanthropists was needed.

He pointed out that the major hurdle in making the unit operational was non-availability of staff for the ICU which required no less than eight well-trained nurses having adequate experience in paediatrics, six doctors, nurse aid, dispensers and sweepers for three shifts.

He said that the entire cost of the unit had been made available through government resources. However, he added, it was very difficult to spare funds for running expenses and salaries from the amount provided by the health department.

To a query, he pointed out that the Unit-III of the CHK was catering to the needs of hundreds of ailing children from across the province through financial assistance by philanthropist to pay the salaries of three qualified nurses and two trained dispensers. It is under private-public partnership that the unit has been renovated and modern medical technologies are being arranged, he said.

Meanwhile, Bashir Jan Mohammad, a donor who has helped in the uplift of the unit, has suggested that parts of all major public hospitals be adopted by philanthropists who should also be authorized to ensure proper running of the adopted facilities/departments.—APP