RAWALPINDI: A senior doctor at the Holy Family Hospital (HFH) on Thursday said the treatment of dengue patients would be a problem as the medical unit of the hospital is being run without a professor.

“According to the rules of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan (CPSP), four postgraduate trainees work under the supervision of a professor, assistant professor and associate professor. However, these three main posts are lying vacant in the medical unit of the HFH for three months,” he said on the condition of anonymity.

Two patients landed in the hospital on Wednesday and were tested positive for dengue.

The doctor said after the retirement of Prof Dr Mohammad Umer as the head of the medical unit in May, the seat had been lying vacant. Prof Umer is now the vice chancellor of the Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU).

“After the retirement of Prof Umer, the medical unit was being run by Associate Professor Dr Fazlur Rehman but he has gone on a four-month leave.”

He said the health department and the RMU failed to appoint a new professor. The postgraduate trainees are now running the medical unit without any supervision.

Under the rules, he added, the four-month report of the trainee doctors is prepared by their supervisors and the medical superintendent of the hospital. But in their absence, the trainee doctors would face problems in getting their reports.

On the other hand, the district administration and the cantonment board have failed to speed up the anti-dengue campaign in the city and cantonment areas.

They claimed to have identified the larvae in different areas but after the start of the monsoon season both the civic bodies could not conduct fogging in low-lying areas.

A senior official of the health department said fogging was not conducted in areas located along Leh Nullah where water had been accumulated providing a safe haven to the mosquitoes.

“Basically, the Punjab government is not actively monitoring the work of the district health department and the assistant commissioners,” he said.

HFH Medical Superintendent Dr Raja Shafique told Dawn that there were two medical units in the hospital and the medical unit was being run without a professor.

However, he said, it was the duty of the provincial government and the RMU to take up the matter with the government.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2017