SWABI: Patients, including women, have been facing problems due to demolition of three main wards at the district headquarters (DHQ) hospital here as reconstruction and expansion work has been started on the new blocks.

During a visit to the hospital here on Thursday, the officials said that the project would be completed at a cost of Rs550 million. In the first phase, the surgical, medical and gynae wards have been demolished for reconstruction and expansion.

The female doctors and other staff were treating their patients in a section of medical ward for male. Because of the insufficient arrangements at the DHQ hospital many patients prefer going to the Bacha Khan Medical Complex, Shahmansoor, leading to a rush there.

Officials said that under the reconstruction plan the hospital would be rebuilt in different phases. They said that the facilities would be expanded and modernised according to the increasing population of the district.

Answering a question, medical superintendent of the DHQ hospital Dr Mohammad Shafiq said that after completion of the project the capacity of the hospital would increase from the current 74 beds to 210 beds. He said that the project was scheduled to be completed next year, depending on availability of funds. He said that alternative arrangements had been made to accommodate the female patients because their wards had been razed for reconstruction.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leaders said that the provincial government had elevated various basic health units to rural health centres and Yar Hussain RHC to category ‘D’ hospital. They said that construction work in Topi hospital had been underway.

PTI district president Anwar Haqdad said that the provincial government had been giving importance to health sector according to its pledge made with the people during election 2013.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2018