The federal capital has not had new government hospitals since the 1990s. With the manifold increase in the city’s population, there has been an increase in the number of private hospitals though, which has become a very profitable business due to the lack of public hospitals.

After facing criticism from political opponents that the PML-N government only focuses on projects like the metro bus and motorways and not enough on public health and education, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had in 2016 announced to establish three hospitals in the capital city on which no progress has been observed so far.

A resident of the city, Mohammad Farooq, told Dawn he has always been disappointed when he visits the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) or Polyclinic.

“Doctors at the outpatient department are over burdened and they see four to five patients at the same time. At times, when they write a prescription, they will forget which patient it was for.

Doctors at the outpatient department see four to five patients at the same time

“I do not think they have enough time to properly ask a patient what is wrong and to conduct required examinations before writing prescriptions. They do not even take a proper history,” he said.

“Even in the federal capital the poor cannot get proper treatment. The political elite and their families get treatment from abroad so they do not bother about the hospital as long as they have roads to travel on with over head bridges and underpasses for their own convenience. And then they claim the roads are being carpeted for the poor,” he said.

During the tenure of former military dictator, retired General Pervez Musharraf, it was decided that a health tower will be established at Pims.

It was also decided to build an extension to Polyclinic in Argentina Park but both projects are yet to be carried out.

Talking to Dawn, Dr Sharif Astori, a senior doctor at Polyclinic said the population of the federal capital has swelled to two million which is being catered to by the same public sector hospitals which were there in the 1990s.

“A large number of people migrated to Islamabad after the 2005 earthquake and a number of people migrated from Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas because of the security situation,” he said and that people from across the country come to Islamabad for medical treatment.

“After the appointment of Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry as minister Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD), we were quite hopeful that health facilities will be [improved]. We are still hopeful that he will provide the necessary health facilities to the residents of the city as he is also from here,” he said.

Pims Administrator Dr Mohammad Amjad said not only the Pims tower should be established but 300 to 500 bed hospitals should be established in rural areas in order to reduce the burden on Pims and Polyclinic.

“We need to ensure that general patients are treated in basic health units and only serious patients are shifted to tertiary care hospitals.

“Last year, in a case regarding Polyclinic, the chief justice observed that all hospitals of the federal capital should be placed under one body. Currently, the health facilities are under CADD, the interior ministry, the Ministry of National Health Services, Capital Development Authority and other departments,” he explained.

“However, I have decided to renovate the medical and surgical wards and establish filter clinics to ensure patients will get proper health facilities,” he added.

Talking to Dawn, a health expert at Dawn, Dr Waseem Khawaja agreed that patients do not get proper facilities at hospitals.

“The fact is that the hospitals are over burdened and doctors cannot give patients proper attention.

“However, efforts should be made to reduce this burden by introducing OPD in the evenings and three or four hospitals should be established in the rural areas,” he said.

Asked about former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s 2016 announcement of establishing 46 hospitals across the country, including three in Islamabad on which there progress is yet to be made, a CADD official said the ministry was to facilitate the construction of three hospitals in the city.

“We even identified land for the hospitals in Humak, D-12 and Park Road and because it was a project in which the prime minister was taking interest, we were expecting that construction work will start soon,” he said.

He added that a company was also established to carry out the project as was a website for the company which was named Health Infrastructure Development and Management Company.

Some of the tender notices and proposals for topographical surveys and geotechnical investigation consultancy services for 500, 250 and 100 bed hospitals across Pakistan were also floated by the company and jobs were also advertised.

However, the projects were never carried out.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2018