SHANGLA: Enraged residents of Puran Aloch at a protest at the main gate of Tehsil Headquarters Hospital here the other day demanded provision of basic facilities at the hospital and action against chronic absenteeism of medical staff.

The lack of basic facilities and absence of medical staff triggered a protest demonstration when a patient in serious condition was brought to the hospital.

The demonstration saw charged participants chanting slogans against the hospital administration and the provincial health authorities for their failure to manage the area’s primary healthcare facility.

Jamaat-i- Islami local leader Dayan Ghafar, Shahzad Khan and others addressed the protestors, highlighting the hospital’s precarious situation. They claimed that the facility lacked life-saving drugs and could not even treat an emergency patient.

They claimed that the hospital was being neglected by the politicians as they were running their private hospitals to make money rather than taking care of the government hospital.

The protesters claimed that medical facility had been plagued by a severe shortage of essential equipment and medicines for a prolonged period, while the continued absence of doctors and paramedical staff had brought the hospital’s operations to a virtual standstill.

They lamented that patients were routinely denied timely emergency care and basic treatment, forcing distressed families to travel long distances to hospitals in neighbouring districts at exorbitant costs.

According to local resident Dayan Ghaffar, public anger flared on Thursday after an emergency patient was brought to the THQ hospital but could not receive treatment due to the absence of a doctor on duty. With no immediate medical assistance available, the hospital staff referred the critically ill patient to a healthcare facility in Swat.

This particular incident sparked widespread outrage among the locals, who swiftly mobilised and took to the streets and blocked the hospital’s entrance.

Spokespersons for the agitators argued that if the assigned doctors and medical staff were unwilling or unable to fulfil their professional responsibilities, it is entirely unjust to leave the marginalised population of the remote tehsil without standard medical coverage.

They demanded of the provincial health department to take immediate notice of the mismanagement, ensure presence of qualified medical officers in the hospital, restore the supply of life-saving medicines and upgrade the diagnostic facilities without further delay.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2026