ISLAMABAD: A feasibility study of the proposed extension of the Federal Government Services Hospital (FGSH), or Polyclinic, is expected to begin soon, as possession of 2.54 acres of land adjacent to the hospital has been taken from the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

The construction of the new building will be initiated accordingly, and will increase the hospital’s capacity from 545 to 1,100 beds. Rs100 million have been allocated as a token in the current fiscal year’s Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

Sources at the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) on Thursday said Polyclinic provided healthcare services to residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, as well as northern Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir.

Over three million patients were treated at the hospital in 2015-16, and 2.9 million in 2014-15.

Of the patients treated at Polyclinic in 2014-15, the number of outpatients in the morning was 960,000 and the number of outpatients in the evening was 125,000. Emergency services treated 233,000 patients, dispensaries/centres outpatient departments treated 472,000, vaccination and immunisation services 33,917, blood bank services 89,132, radiology services 109,000, pathology services 840,000, indoor services (admission) treated 32,282 patients, and 8,262 surgeries were performed.

Patients treated during 2015-16 included over one million outpatients in the morning, 128,000 outpatients in the evening, 257,000 treated by emergency services, 432,000 treated by dispensaries/centres outpatient departments, 25,735 treated by vaccination and immunisation services, 128,000 treated by blood bank services, 139,000 treated by radiology services, 880,000 by pathology services, 26,503 by indoor services (admission), and 5,343 surgeries.

Sources added that a proposal for the construction of a new self-contained specialty bock at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), under a directive by the prime minister, was under process.

A PC-1 for the construction of the specialty block in Pims is under preparation.

The block’s new facilities would include a 50-bed burn centre, an improved mother and child centre, a 200-bed gynaecology centre, a 100-bed trauma centre, an outpatient department with 150 consulting rooms (to cater to at least 3,000 consultations every day), a 200-bed children’s hospital, a 50-bed central intensive care unit and an operation theatre.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2016