KARACHI, Oct 21: The Civil Hospital Karachi, which caters to the needs of patients from all over the country, is facing a shortage of doctors and if due attention is not paid , the quality of its services would be compromised. Its teaching standards would also be affected.

A summary has been moved in this connection, drawing the attention of the authorities towards the conditions obtaining in the hospital, it is reliably learnt.

The hospital, which is the biggest teaching facility of its kind in the country, is working with the sanctioned strength which was okayed for it 15 years ago. In the intervening period, the workload has increased tremendously with rising patient population and increasing number of units, some insiders told Dawn.

In 1989, the sanctioned strength of doctors in the hospital was 467, with the breakup as follows: 208 in grade 17; 172 in grade 18; 82 in grade 19; and, five in grade 20. At that time the number of wards stood at 40, operation theatres at 10, OPDs at 22 and other departments at 52.

In these 52 departments, ward level operation theatres areworking round the clock, further reducing the availability of doctors from the sanctioned strength to a minimal point.

With the addition of new wards, units and departments the situation has become quite complicated. And due to use of hi-tech equipment and improved services, the number of patients goes on increasing at the hospital, making it difficult for the existing staff to attend to all the patients to their entire satisfaction.

In addition, the sources said, the departments of accident and emergency, neuro-surgery, paediatric surgery, orthopaedics and some of the surgical units are being run with a limited number of doctors, which is utterly insufficient to provide satisfactory care to the trauma patients.

Most of the doctors posted in the hospital mainly choose to work in departments where they can meet their graduate and postgraduate training requirements, said the sources, adding that due to political pressure the hospital administration had to shift doctors from one ward to another, resulting in shortages in certain sections.

The hospital administration has now requested the health department to overcome the shortage of doctors through detailment of personnel from the School Health Services and from the allied departments, according to the sources.