FAISALABAD: Allied Hospital’s gynae ward has been facing an acute shortage of beds and other basic facilities for patients as well as their attendants because of a heavy influx of patients.

Because of the shortage, beds are being shared by the patients, even those who undergo C-section.

There is also no facility for the patient’s attendants who have to sleep on floor in the night.

Hospital’s Board of Management (BoG) Chairman Dr Najma Afzal says the burden of patients on the hospital could be shared by improving gayne wards at the tehsil and district headquarters hospitals.

Besides local women, those from Chiniot, Sargodha, Toba Tek Singh and Jhang also visit the hospital for routine checkup or delivery.

The hospital’s gynae ward comprises 50 to 60 beds, where even routine equipment like the drip stands are also short.

Kishwar Bibi of Chiniot, an attendant of a female relative who gave birth to a baby girl, told Dawn: “We somehow manage during the day time, but spending night at the ward is a nightmare.” She said the ward at night looked like a bus stand where female attendants had to sleep on the floor wrapping blankets and sheets around them as there was an acute shortage of benches.

Another attendant, Surraya Nemat, said the doctors had been performing their duties efficiently, but rush of patients and lack of facilities were making their job hard.

“Sometimes doctors become jittery and misbehave with the complaining patients and their attendants,” she added.

A doctor requesting anonymity said all including patients, attendants and medics, were facing multiple problems owing to shortage of space and equipment at the overcrowded gayne ward.

She said most of the times there were more than one attendants and all of them wanted to stay with a patient which became an unnecessary burdened for the ward.

She said the burden was further added to the public facility when private hospitals referred critical patients to its gyane ward after failing to handle complications due to the absence of required machinery.

She said a majority of the patients brought to the ward belonged to poor segments of society as well-off ones preferred expensive private hospitals.

She said the hospital administration had been informed a number of times of the heavy influx of the patients and dearth of facilities and staff, but to no avail.

Medical Superintendent Dr Rashid Maqbool didn’t bother to reply this reporter’s queries despite his attempts to contact him for two days.

PML-N MPA Dr Najma Afzal said the government had been requested for expansion of the facility.

She said the government had also been trying to equip the tehsil and district headquarters hospitals with modern facilities to lessen the burden on major hospitals.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2015