KARACHI, March 1: The administration of Civil Hospital Karachi is awaiting an approval of the Sindh health department to sign a five-year agreement with a private donor who has offered funds and services to the hospital for improving the quality of food being provided to CHK patients. A well-placed source in CHK told Dawn on Friday that in November a philanthropist had approached the CHK administration with the offer of doing something worthwhile for its poor patients by improving the functioning of the hospital kitchen which is supposed to prepare three daily meals for about 1500 in-house patients.

However, because of mass pilferage and inefficiency of the people involved in the affairs of the hospital kitchen, patients are not being provided appropriate food. The hospital, at present, gives Rs 475,000 per month to the kitchen with a good part of the money going to private persons.

It is stated that the proposed agreement which would be the first of its kind in a public-sector hospital in the country, envisages a fool-proof arrangement, whereby the donor would add Rs 1 million to the existing Rs 475,000 to the hospital money and take charge of kitchen affairs and will work with the consultation with an eight-member hospital vigilant committee.

The donor, who has requested anonymity, has promised to recruit trained cooks and caterers so that healthy and hygienic food is served to patients in a systematic and dignified manner.

The donor and the hospital administration are prepared to implement the agreement as soon as they are given a green signal by the health department to which a detailed report of the proposed agreement has already been submitted.