ISLAMABAD: A woman patient died three days after being admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) due to unavailability of a ventilator at the hospital.

Relatives of the patient held a protest in the hospital and blamed doctors for the death of the 60-year-old resident of Gokina Talhar, a village near Daman-i-Koh.

However, Pims Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Akram said because of the high demand doctors provided ventilators only to those patients who had more chances of recovery.

“Ideally, a ventilator should be provided to every patient but at Pims sometimes it becomes very painful to decide not to put a patient on the ventilator and let them die. Every day I receive over a dozen calls from ministers, parliamentarians and bureaucrats for ventilators. But no patient can be removed from a ventilator unless they get well or their death is confirmed by doctors,” he said.

Relatives protest, hold doctors responsible for death of 60-year-old woman

A ventilator is a machine designed to mechanically move breathable air into and out of the lungs to provide the mechanism of breathing for a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Ventilators are mostly used in the intensive care units.

A doctor of Pims, requesting anonymity, said three days ago the woman patient was brought to the emergency and a team led by Prof Kamal Nasir examined her.

“The patient’s lungs had stopped working because of tuberculosis due to which it was suggested to put her on the ventilator. However, due to the unavailability of a ventilator she was shifted to a manual bed having only an airbag. The patient died on Saturday,” he said.

“Soon after the death of the patient, her relatives gathered at Pims and held a protest. They demanded that the minister for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) should take notice and hold an inquiry into the incident,” he said.

Dr Akram claimed that the patient was admitted to a private hospital from where she was shifted to Pims three days ago.

“We have 80 ventilators out of which one is out of order. The ventilators never remain vacant as all the time almost 20 patients keep waiting for their turn,” he said.

Private hospitals charge almost Rs150,000 per day for a ventilator. A majority of people admit their relatives to private hospitals and start requesting the Pims administration for a ventilator. After utilising all their resources they shift the patient to the Pims emergency,” he said.

“As over a dozen patients remain in the queue all the time, doctors prefer to admit those who have more chances of recovery.”

He said the woman patient who died on Saturday was suffering from chronic tuberculosis due to which her lungs were not functioning and there were less chances of recovery.

“I suggest that patients should not be shifted to Pims without confirmation that a ventilator would be provided to them.”

In reply to a question, Dr Akram said a PC-I had been prepared to establish an ICU tower in which 320 more ventilators would be installed.

The PC-1 is yet to be approved by the prime minister.

“Moreover, the availability of only ventilators is not the solution to the issue as trained doctors, nurses, sterilised places etc., are also required. Though after completion of the tower we will have 400 ventilators, around 2,000 staff will be required to run the unit,” he said.

In 2012, a patient referred to the hospital by Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, the then chairman of the Senate, could not get a ventilator. On the request of Mr Bukhari, the Planning Commission released Rs75 million for the purchase of ventilators.

In July 2016, the then administrator Pims, Dr Fazl-i-Moula convinced a philanthropist to donate 11 secondhand ventilators to the hospital.

Though the ventilators were arranged, the hospital still faces the shortage of ventilators.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2017