LAHORE, Feb 14: The future of liver transplant is in jeopardy due to a lack of facilities at the Shaikh Zayed Hospital.

These doctors remained associated with many leading health institutes abroad before joining the SZH in 2010.

It is ironic that the Liver Transplant Centre has no operation theatre, High Dependency Unit (HDU) and isolated Intensive Care Unit (ICU), the backbone of any medical project.

"We all are foreign qualified and experienced liver transplant surgeons and going through a trying ordeal because of absence of facilities at the Shaikh Zayed Hospital," one of the doctors told Dawn.

He said the team had conducted complicated surgeries at the Liver Transplant Centre which lacked proper infrastructure, helping staff and vital components like designated operation theatre, HDU and ICU.

Inaugurated by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the centre was named after a 10th class student, Arslan, the first liver donor to the hospital.

The doctors are also not happy with the hospital administration and some colleagues who, they say, are creating hurdles in their work. They say they have conducted the three complicated liver transplants as a 'goodwill gesture'.

There are 17 operation theatres at the SZH; five are at the Kidney Centre, three under the administrative control of urology department and two are with the cardiology department.

"Whenever we require the operation theatre, we have to rent it once a week and follow the terms and conditions of the head of the department concerned. Recently, a nine-month old girl was referred to SZH by Prof Dr Huma Arshad Cheema of Children's Hospital for immediate liver surgery. She is in pain but there is no operation theatre available for the girl's surgery."

The so-called HDU of the transplant centre has simple electric beds but no air mattresses, according to the doctor who alleged that the furniture purchased for the centre was being used by the Shaikh Zayed Medical College.

As for the surgical equipment, he said, the hospital purchased three liver-cutting machines of different companies instead of one firm, which had created complications for the surgeons.

Moreover, he said, two standard surgical hand-pieces 23-KHz were required for soft tissue removal around critical structure during operation but the administration purchased only one. A hand-piece 36-KHz was also purchased but had no utility, he said.

On the repeated requests of the doctors, the SZH arranged another hand-piece 23-KHz through separate tender at a cost Rs1 million.

Two costly bypass machines purchased from the Liver Transplant Centre funds were lying unused in the store as they were not required to them, he said.

Similarly, he said, the institute had purchased two costly liver dialysis machines which were absolutely not required. "The liver dialysis treatment has been considered highly expensive and even well-off patients don't readily opt for it. A disposable set required for each liver dialysis costs at least Rs400,000," he said.

About human resource, he said, the institute sent irrelevant staff abroad some years back to get training for liver transplantation. Of the 18 trained nurses, only six were discharging duties at the centre.

Shaikh Zayed Hospital chairman Prof Dr Zafar Iqbal said the main factor behind the problems was paucity of funds. He said the institute had so far received Rs170 million for the Liver Transplant Centre from the federal government, which had almost been utilised.

The major focus of the government for allocation of funds was on a similar project being launched in Islamabad. He said initially the institute had purchased low-priced equipment for the centre.

On the complaints of the doctors, the administration had been making available instruments through tenders. He said the liver transplant surgeons would be provided operation theatres on the newly-constructed building's second floor which would be handed over to the institute on Feb 28.

At present, the surgeons were using available operation theatres for liver-related procedures. They would be able to conduct surgeries for six days a week in the newly-constructed building, Dr Zafar said and added that the institute had also planned to establish a liver unit for critical care.

When asked about the untrained staff, Dr Zafar said it was negligence on the part of the previous administration which sent the staff including doctors who were near retirement.