BATKHELA: The newly-constructed Category-A Hospital, Batkhela, in Malakand district, is short of doctors and facilities, sources said.

They said that the hospital had a total of 118 posts of BPS-20 and BPS-18, but as many as 73 posts were lying vacant. They added that the hospital was completed at a cost of over Rs1 billion.

Former chief minister Mahmood Khan had inaugurated the building in November 2022 and granted the hospital category-A status, assuring the public that patients would no longer be referred to Peshawar, Mardan and Swat hospitals.

The sources said that posts of chief medical specialist, children, eye, gynaecology, chest, anesthesia, chief clinical nursing instructor, chief quality control nurse, deputy quality control nurse, nursing superintendent, SCNI, cardiologist, casualty PMO, dentist, gastroenterologist, urologist, ENT specialist, neurosurgeon, physiotherapist, skin specialist and senior special pharmacist were lying vacant.

The sources said the health department had been asked to provide the required staff, furniture and necessary equipment after the hospital was upgraded, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, civil society activists said category-A hospitals were exempted from electricity loadshedding, but the Batkhela hospital was being subjected to power outages, affecting the service delivery. They demanded a separate express feeder for the health facility.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2023