LARKANA: If the inspection of central medicine store and checking of stocks there by deputy commissioner is further delayed, the Chandka Medical College Hospital (CMCH) and Shaikh Zayed Hospital for Women will face an acute shortage of medicines.

This was stated by CMCH medical superintendent Dr Irshad Kazmi in a letter to the Larkana deputy commissioner on March 19.

The MS noted that the Larkana DC had nominated Assistant Commissioner Ahmed Ali Soomro as a member of the inspection committee, notified by the Sindh government. He informed the DC that Mr Soomro, without assigning any reason, refused to visit the central medicine store and sign the inspection reports. As a result, medicines including life-saving drugs, could not be issued to the two hospitals’ ARV centre, accident and emergency department, operating theatres, dialysis centre, thalassaemia centre, OPD and indoor patients.

CMCH chief worried over delay in inspection process

The MS said the inspection was a mandatory process to pay bills to the companies supplying medicines. The companies would stop supplies if their bills were not cleared and that would result in a major shortage of medicines, he added.

He labelled the issue in the communication as ‘very serious’ which demanded urgent response on the DC’s part as lives of the patients were in danger.

The MS had sent copies of the letter to the secretary health, director general health and CMCH chairperson, management board, additional registrar of the Sindh High Court, Larkana commissioner, and district and sessions judge.

When contacted, AC Ahmed Ali Soomro told Dawn that he was neither named nor he was a designated member of the inspection committee. It was prerogative of the DC to nominate any officer as his representative, he said.

He said that after the formation of the CMC Hospital Management Board by the government of Sindh, which the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University (SMBBMU) Larkana vice chancellor headed, it was the board’s authority to visit and inspect the central medicine store of the CMCH.

He thought the role of the committee was over once the hospital management board was constituted, he said. The DC had also not asked him for inspecting the medicine store, therefore how could he on his own go there, he said.

However, in the capacity of AC he could visit it, he said. He said the additional registrar of Sindh High Court, Larkana circuit, had also contacted him about the situation.

Dr Gul Shaikh, in-charge of central medicine store of the CMCH, told Dawn that a tranche of medicines was waiting for inspection prior to supplying to wards and other departments.

The stock included ARV, insulin, antibiotics etc, he said, adding that he along with the pharmacist as member of the inspection committee had inspected the stocks. For one week, insulin was not available and Prof Dr Saifullah Jamro of the CMC Children Hospital had demanded supply of antibiotics for indoor patients, he said.

A shortage might occur and patients may suffer if timely supply was delayed, he said.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2021