LANDI KOTAL: No gynaecologist has been appointed at district headquarters hospital Landi Kotal despite announcement of Chief Minister Mahmood Khan three weeks ago.

The hospital has been without a gynaecologist for nearly eight years. The patients along with their attendants apprised the chief minister of the issue during his short visit to the hospital on July 30. He ordered immediate posting of a gynaecologist along with medical superintendent, whose post had also been vacant for some weeks, at the hospital.

Sources in the hospital said that alongside the posting of the aforementioned two doctors, they were also awaiting posting of a radiologist, cardiologist and an eye specialist for a long time.

They said that the post of radiologist fell vacant some six years ago and the eye specialist was promoted to BPS-19 and transferred out of Landi Kotal about two and half years ago while the lone cardiologist was transferred about four years ago and since then the three posts remained vacant, causing hardships to local patients.

Patients suffer owing to shortage of doctors at the health facility

Sources said that at least three more doctors were promoted and transferred out of Landi Kotal few months ago as there was no provision of a to BPS-19 post in Landi Kotal hospital. These posts are also vacant.

Sources said that continued absence of radiologist also resulted in suspension of working of three ultrasound machines while the patients were compelled to conduct ultrasound tests in private clinics.

They said that a brand new dialysis machine was gathering dust at the hospital warehouse due to absence of specialist staff to run it.

Sources said that prolonged power loadshedding and absence of specialist doctors also affected major and minor surgeries while the operation theater remained closed for most of the time.

The acting medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr Fazl Raziq, when approached, admitted shortage of specialist doctors but declined to comment on health department’s failure to post a gynaecologist against the vacant post as was urgently promised by the chief minister.

The working of the hospital, sources said, was also seriously hampered by prolonged power suspension that also resulted in acute shortage of water in the hospital.

The staff of the local grid station blamed the doctors and health staff at the hospital for not paying electricity bills regularly while health officials insisted that all bills were duly paid and they were subjected to unjustified loadshedding.

Sources said that the hospital drug store had stopped providing free medicines to patients as medicines had not been bought since merger of tribal districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa owing to health department’s refusal to approve funds for the purpose.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2019