RAWALPINDI, Aug 29: Rawalpindi General Hospital (RGH) wastes gas worth Rs12 million annually, sources told Dawn here on Thursday.

According to Sui Gas department sources, a survey was recently conducted at the hospital which showed that per hour wastage of Sui gas due to leakages was 900 cubic feet per hour.

This, they said, meant that the hospital wasted Rs60,000 worth of gas daily, a figure that equalled the monthly gas bills of the other two main public hospitals, the District Headquarters Hospital and Holy Family Hospital.

Director Finance of Rawalpindi Medical College allied hospitals Dr Arshad Ali said gas in such a huge quantum was being lost due to corroded underground pipes of the hospital which was alarming.

The medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr Ali Mohammad, could not be accessed despite repeated contacts.

Sources in the hospital said the utilities were consuming 22 per cent of the hospital’s annual budget, which was about Rs90 million. The other hospitals spend approximately eight per cent on their utilities.

Despite spending such a huge amount on the utilities the hospital has got a huge backlog.

“Due to such huge spending on utilities, which can certainly be reduced, the hospital for most of the time remains mired in financial problems,” Dr Ali said.

Asked as to who decides about the allocations in the hospital budget, he said it was the medical superintendent, who was authorized to allocate the finances under different heads and permit their expenditure. The outstanding bills of only Sui Gas department are more than Rs15 million in addition to the amount the hospital has to pay in electricity and telephone bills.

The sources said the amount required to replace the entire pipeline for ending the problem of gas wastage was barely Rs0.6 million, almost half the amount which the hospital lost in the form of gas leakages.

About the usage of gas, hospital sources said it was mainly required for autoclaving and in the kitchen.

The nursing hostel located inside the hospital premises has separate billing.

Sources said when the board of governors, which was running the affairs of the public hospitals, came to know about such massive wastage they asked the administration to probe into the matter.

They said the administration, however, did not pay heed to the situation.

A source in the RGH said things could not improve in the hospital until the entire administration was replaced with a fully empowered administrator.

“No one amongst the present set up of the hospital seems to be committed to the hospital,” a BoG member said on condition of anonymity.