DIR, July 3: Patients of the District Headquarters Hospital, Upper Dir, have criticised the shortage of doctors and paramedical staff in the hospital.

The hospital’s children ward has been closed down because of shortage of nurses and other staff. The biggest hospital in the hometown of the provincial health minister also lacks other vital facilities.

“Dir Upper is the home district of the provincial health minister, but people here are deprived of basic health facilities,” attendants of patients in the hospital said. The hospital even lacks paramedics and nursing staff to administer injections.

Patients of emergency and other wards complained that there was no one in the hospital who could even administer injections.

There is no orthopaedic surgeon, eye specialist, gynaecologist and dental surgeon in the hospital.

Due to the absence of a gynaecologist, people are facing problems as hospital sources said that about 15 delivery cases were brought to the hospital everyday.

The hospital sources and other stakeholders said a number of doctors had been transferred from the hospital on a demand of local activists of a component party of the provincial government, but no appointments had been made in their place.

People of Dir have held a demonstration in protest against the shortage of staff.