RAWALPINDI, Dec 12: The haphazardness shown by the Rawalpindi General Hospital (RGH) administration in making the operation theatres in the casualty ward operational, following the chief minister’s directives, has upset the working of the surgical department.

The surgical wards would be displaced by the commissioning of the theatres. Under the new arrangement the previously compact surgical unit had been split up into three parts spread all over the hospital premises.

The women section of the ward has been moved to the old nursing hostel which is in extremely poor state, while the men side has been given space in ward no 1, several hundred feet away. The operation theatre on the other hand will be in the emergency ward.

“The surgery department would then have to keep the patients shuttling between these places all the day,” a doctor said. The doctors were of the view that making the operation theatres in the casualty ward operational was a right thing, but the haphazard manner in which the administration was proceeding had given rise to innumerable problems.

The main surgery complex, where the doctors want the surgery wards to be shifted, is presently housing six departments of the hospital. The doctors said two of these — the urology and gynaecology departments — could be readily moved out as their own buildings were ready.

This, they say, will not only create enough space in the building to accommodate the displaced surgery wards, but also lessen pressure on the theatres consequently improving their working.

Meanwhile, they said, there was a plan for upgrading the main operation theatres in the building and if that too was done, a good surgery complex could easily be developed.

The doctors, opposed to the shifting plan of the administration, said the main building also had an intensive care unit required in case of critical patients. They believe that shifting of patients from the theatre to a far off ward immediately after the operation may be dangerous, therefore there should be arrangements for housing the patients close to the theatre.

“Conditions for safe surgery cannot be guaranteed in such a dispersed set up,” a senior surgeon at the hospital maintained.

Another doctor said the confused frame of mind of the administration could be seen from the fact that just prior to allotting the old nursing hostel, the administration ordered setting up of a library in that building for which a committee had also been set up. The committee on reaching the building for inspection was told that it had been given to the surgery department for the setting up women surgery ward.

When asked for comments, a member of the administration, on condition of anonymity, said they had no option but to comply with the chief minister’s orders and the operation theatres would be functional by December 20.

Another baffling decision by the RGH administration is the closure of the histopathology section of the pathology department following the transfer of a doctor.

The patients are then left with no other option but to get these tests done from private laboratories.

A proposal had been floated with the administration that samples could be collected at the hospital and referred to Holy Family Hospital for analysis. However, this proposal was rejected.

The hospital charged Rs150 for these tests, while private laboratories were charging Rs500 to Rs750 per test.