KARACHI, Jan 16: All posts ranging from BPS-1 to BPS-15 lying vacant in Civil Hospital Karachi will be filled on the basis of merit within in the next few months.

The assurance was made by the chairman board of governors for Civil and Lyari General hospitals, Abu Shamim Arif, while assuming the responsibilities at Civil Hospital here on Monday.

In an elaborate briefing regarding the working structure of Civil Hospital, Medical Superintendent Dr Kaleem Butt mentioned that a significant number of posts of non-medical staff, as well as that of nurses, paramedics and technicians were vacant since long. He mentioned that the hospital needed a minimum number of 65 to 70 staff nurses, while there was said to be an urgent need for adequate number of doctors in emergency/casualty department’s night shift along with crucial departments as thoracic surgery and vascular surgery.

About non-medical staffs, Dr Kaleem said that 75 sanctioned vacancies for sanitary workers alone were unoccupied for the last many years due to the ban on employment. This, he said, could help one understand the prevalent poor hygienic conditions within the hospital premises.

He also urged the chairman and the members of the newly constituted autonomous board of governors to exercise their powers in expediting the working of public works department so that long pending issues of separate waterline connections for 40 different departments at the Civil Hospital, sewerage and sanitation system besides renovation and uplift of the entire hospital could get materialized without any unnecessary delay.

He said that the CHK was allocated a total budget of around Rs950 million, 73 per cent of which was awarded by the provincial department, and almost 75 per cent of the entire budget was incurred under the head of salaries while another five per cent was spent on clearing electricity, gas and phone bills.

On an average Rs120 million was spent on procuring drugs, vaccines and other relevant material, he said adding that it was extremely insignificant as no less than 19,000 cancer patients were attended at the CHK during the last two years.

Dr Kaleem Butt said that he had moved a summary a few months back before the health department seeking separate budgetary allocation for procurement of relevant drugs, which were extremely expensive and beyond purchasing power of patients visiting the Civil Hospital.

Shamim Arif assured that these issues would be duly taken up and addressed to reduce the miseries of patients. —APP