PESHAWAR: The health department has directed all district health officers and medical superintendents of hospitals to immediately install boxed equipment in hospitals and inform the authorities about the uninstalled machines so that they can be shifted to those health facilities where they are needed.
A letter issued by the office of director-general health services to all the district health officers (DHOs) and medical superintendents (MSs) on Monday said that the chief secretary had taken notice of unutilised equipment at hospitals.
He has sought details of the stuff lying unused in hospitals.
It said that the machines purchased by the government were not being used which was a matter of concern. All the equipment should be installed immediately and details regarding the items remaining uninstalled should be conveyed to the provincial health department.
Items including machines were purchased during Covid-19 period owing to relaxation of rules
The letter said that non-functional medical machines were installed in hospitals. It added that a report regarding uninstalled equipment should be provided to the department by health facilities of all 37 districts of the province.
“Relevant officials will face disciplinary action for non-compliance of the directives. No equipments should stay unutilised in the hospitals and therefore all relevant officials should comply with the directives to facilitate people,” it said.
Sources in the department said that a similar letter had also been sent to DHOs and MSs a month ago but it had fallen on deaf ears as no reply had been received from them. It prompted the department to issue a reminder to all officials concerned to fulfil the task, they added.
They said that in December last year, a report compiled by the department revealed that machinery worth millions of rupees was purchased to facilitate patients but in many hospitals those items were not used.
They said that those equipment had been supplied to hospitals without prior assessment to ascertain their needs.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the government had relaxed rules of tendering and procurement in order to cope with the infection during its peak and bulk of apparatus and equipment were purchased that were never used.
The report pointed out that machinery and equipment such as incubators, baby warmers and even gynaecological suction machines were provided to some hospitals where there was no gynaecology, nursery or paediatric units. Such items were yet to be unpacked and were dumped in stores, showing that neither need assessment was carried out for them nor was prior demand obtained from the hospitals, it added.
Even a district headquarters (DHQ) hospital was given 10 ventilators without any demand due to which those were consigned to store, said the report.
It said that not only machines but 400 blankets and 200 mattresses were provided to a 110-bed district headquarters hospital. These items are rusting in the store of the hospital. Another hospital received more than one dozen oxygen concentrators without any justification.
Sources said that six full body scanners purchased for merged districts at a cost of Rs900 million went gone into disuse. The scanners purchased by the department four years ago at a cost of Rs150 million per piece were meant to ensure complete body scanning of patients in district headquarters hospitals of merged districts. These scanners are also yet to be unpacked.
They said that modern machines could provide X-ray, computed tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) facilities to patients. They said that the department also planned to withdraw the unused equipment from hospitals and supply them to the districts where those were needed.
The government allowed massive procurement during Covid-19 for which rules were relaxed and the respective officials made procurement without any need. The warranty period of most of those unused machines had also expired, said sources.
Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2024
