HYDERABAD, Oct 29: The Civil Hospital of Hyderabad has yet not been supplied with medicines by the import and inspection depot, this correspondent learnt on Wednesday.

Hospital sources said every year the CHH received 75 per cent of its medicines from the I. I. depot.

They said the medicines’ budget of the hospital was around Rs46 million and, given the requirement of medicines, it faced a big deficit annually.

Despite the lapse of four months of the fiscal year, the hospital has not received the medicines which are to be provided to the Out Patient Department, casualty and other wards.

The sources said even tenders for the medicines had not been called by the I. I. depot and the hospital was facing shortage of medicines as its administration had banned the local purchase of medicines which was otherwise done in cases of medicines not available in the hospital’s medical store.

They said the first half-yearly instalment of local purchase was about to end and that was why the administration had banned the local purchase. The local purchase was allowed only in emergency cases. The next instalment of local purchase would be given in January, they added.

On Wednesday, house officers staged a rally in the hospital premises, demanding supply of medicines to wards and the OPD so that the same could be provided to poor patients.

They also demanded reinstatement of two house officers, Dr Abdullah Soomro and Dr Waheed Unnar, whose services were terminated by the medical superintendent of the hospital.

They said patients were not getting medicines in wards and the OPD with the result they were cursing doctors.

They also demanded payment of two-month stipend to 95 house officers.

The Sindh finance department has not approved the ad hoc arrangement of stipend for additional house officers who are working in the hospital against the strength of 547.

Last year, the finance department had approved the ad hoc arrangement for house officers as it diverted stipends of vacant seats of house officers in Sindh.

According to MS Shafqat Memon, five days back Dr Waheed Unnar, Dr Abdullah Soomro and others trespassed into his house, seeking provision of medicines in wards.

He said he told the doctors that medicines could not be provided as the II depot had not supplied medicines to the hospital and local purchase was allowed only in cases of emergency.