KARACHI, July 29: Necessary equipment, besides ambulances, at the Sindh Government Hospital at Ibrahim Hyderi have been lying out of order for more than last seven years, creating immense problems for the area residents.

Two ambulances, one ultrasound machine, Electro Surgical Unit (Diathermy) and an anaesthesia machine at the hospital were out of order, official sources told PPI on Thursday.

The seized engines of the two ambulances (EX-3552 and EA-0218) had not been repaired for the last seven years, they added. The hospital's ultrasound machine had not been working properly since 1998, the sources said, adding that the hospital doctors got repaired the minor faults in the machine from their pockets, but still it was not able to deal with major cases and its precision was not reliable even in minor ones.

An anaesthesia machine and Electro Surgical Unit (Diathermy) had also not been functioning since more than seven years, putting the lives of those patients at risk, who had to undergo surgery at the hospital, the sources said.

The only X-ray machine of 100MA at the hospital was also out of order for the last one week and could not be repaired, inconveniencing at least 20 to 30 patients visiting the X-ray facility daily, who now had to pay Rs150-200 at private clinics.

The SGH Medical Superintendent Dr Amna Zafar when contacted said that the hospital was facing paucity of funds required for the maintenance of machinery, as it got only Rs16,454 as annual budget for the equipment maintenance, beside Rs9,872 for ambulances.

She said that the budget was not only insufficient to meet the repair requirements, but often it was also delayed by the city government. She said that 400 to 500 patients visited the hospital's out patient department daily, which was functioning round the clock, while all medicines were provided free of cost to the patients.

She said that despite being informed of the conditions at the hospital, the Health EDO did not respond. "We are making efforts to improve the health facilities for poor people, utilizing our limited resources," she added and hoped that there would be improvement in the next few months. -PPI