PESHAWAR, Aug 17: An inquiry committee looking into the non-functioning of the air-conditioning plant of the Khyber Teaching Hospital has held the hospital administration and the maintenance staff responsible for the problem, according to official sources.

“We have submitted our findings to the health department. The KTH administration and maintenance engineers and their staff are responsible for the huge losses the hospital has suffered because of the non-functioning of the air-conditioning plant,” said a member of the committee.

Non-functioning of the plant, which remains shut for several hours at a time, is stated to be the main reason for postponement of surgical operations and complications caused by delays in tests and treatment at the 1200-bed hospital.

Doctors at the hospital are finding it difficult to attend to the growing number of patients owing to the oppressive heat. Doctors have not been able to perform operations due to the severe heat as the operation theatres become a nuisance for them as well as the patients.

They had informed the authorities that performing an operation without air-conditioning could be dangerous for patients.

The sources said the hospital had purchased the air-conditioner from a US-based firm in 1973 for Rs30.4 million. The plant has been in place for more than 40 years despite the fact that it had been damaged because of a bomb blast in 1983. Although the plant has been repaired, it has not been functioning properly.

Hospital sources blamed the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) for the defects in the plant, saying that the Pesco had failed to ensure an uninterrupted power supply.

“We are paying Rs5 million as electricity bill to the Pesco every month, but the supply is faulty. The persistent breakdowns are affecting the capacity of the air-conditioning plant,” said an official.

“On several occasions we have to postpone operations. We cannot perform lengthy and time-consuming procedures due to the fear of sudden stoppage of the plant,” a senior surgeon told this reporter.

Taking note of the problem, the provincial health department constituted a committee under Prof Dr Arshad Javaid, Dean of the Post-Graduate Medical Institute (PGMI), to probe into the matter and fix the responsibility.

The committee’s report said two of the plant’s four chambers had gone out of order 10 years ago. There were no serious efforts on the part of the administration and maintenance engineers to repair the plant on a permanent basis, it added.