MINGORA: The patients and their attendants have complained about the poor condition of cleanliness in Saidu Sharif Teaching Hospital.

“This is the biggest hospital in Malakand division but patients face problems owing to poor condition of cleanliness,” said Ikram Khan, who was with his brother in the hospital.

“Patients are brought to the hospital to be treated where hygiene must be the top priority but everything is upside down here as hygienic condition is the worst. It seems that there is no sweeper in the hospital because nobody cleans the toilets,” said a patient in the gynae ward.

The attendants said that the toilets in the hospital were not only filthy and dirty but also less in number. They said that there were no toilets for the attendants.

“I am really shocked to know that there is no arrangement of toilets for those, who come with the patients as attendants to the hospital. Ultimately, majority of the attendants attend call of nature along the boundary walls of the hospital,” said Shahid Ali, an attendant with a patient in the gynea ward.

The patients also complained that there was only one toilet in the hospital’s laboratory that was used by both men and women.

“At least there must be two separate toilets for male and female patients in the laboratory. Often there is along queue outside the toilet in the laboratory because male and female patients have to collect urine for different tests. The rush for the toilet leads to embarrassment and humiliation in our society where we have Islamic culture and tradition,” said Ghafoor Khan, who was waiting in a queue outside the laboratory toilet to collect urine for a test.

Dr Najeeb, a spokesperson for Saidu Sharif Teaching Hospital, when contacted, said that new toilets would be constructed soon. For the cleaning purpose, the number of the existing sweepers was insufficient and the government had already advertised 40 posts for sweepers, he added.

“Once the 40 sweepers are hired, the cleanliness issue would be resolved,” said Dr Najeeb.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2020