KARACHI, July 25: Patients availing of outpatient facilities made available at government hospitals, which are supposed to be providing services almost free of cost, have to spend a considerable amount of money on medicines and laboratory tests.

According to a report published in the latest issue of Journal of Pakistan Medical Association, patients spend on an average Rs320 on certain specific tests, Rs180 on laboratory tests, Rs126 on medicines and Rs50 on ultrasound or X-Ray.

On top of this, they have to spend Rs16 on transportation if they use a bus or minibus, Rs60 for rickshaw, and Rs145 for taxi or ambulance. Under the study - carried out by N Syed, R Athar, O.F. Khan, K. Shakoor, H. Qureshi and S.E. Alam of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) - 1,013 patients visiting the medical, surgical and gynaecological OPDs, and another 109 visiting the ENT and neurology departments etc helped fill out questionnaires.

About 300 of the respondents were males and 714 females. The most common mode of transportation used by the respondents was a bus or minibus. A large number of patients utilise the hospital's facilities for investigations, with approximately 96 per cent using laboratory tests and 95 per cent using radiology and ultrasound facilities, says the study.

The time spent by each patient at the hospital is about four hours per day, and on an average he or she visits the health centre eight times per ailment, claims the study.

While concluding, the researchers said: "The analysis shows that JPMC facilities are mostly being utilised for investigation purposes. Basic drugs (analgesics, antacids and multivitamins) are being provided to the patients while specific drugs like antibiotics and seizure controlling drugs are not provided and the patients have to purchase these.

"In order to improve the health delivery system, efforts should be directed at reducing the time spent by the patient in the OPDs, along with a decrease in the number of visits made by him or her."