PESHAWAR: The construction of a purpose-built accident and emergency department at the Hayatabad Medical Complex here has been suspended for the last five years due to the shortage of funds, say officials.

The project got under way in 2017 to ease patient load at the HMC, which is located close to the Khyber tribal district and receives critically injured patients from the incidents of terrorism as well as general emergency patients who required prompt services.

However, officials said the contractor had stopped work on the building due to the unavailability of the required funds. They said the HMC administration required Rs600 million to resume the construction.

The provincial government had approved Rs1.205 billion to build a state-of-the-art A&ED with diagnostic and treatment facilities under one roof. However, despite the passage of more than seven years, the work is incomplete, troubling patients wanting emergency care.

Officials insist required funds not available

The department, as per the plan, will have 130 beds, including 36 ICU beds along with five dedicated operating theatres with properly designed layout for efficient triage, trauma care and emergency response. However, the unavailability of required funds is delaying the project, according to officials.

They said the cost of the remaining work could rise due to high inflation, so timely release of funds would lead to its early completion.

Officials associated with the project told Dawn that the HMC had advanced diagnostic services, including MRI, scanning and pathological facilities laced with the comprehensive therapeutic interventions, but all their requests for funds had fallen on deaf ears.

They said presently, the A&ED was housed in a few-room setup, which was difficult to provide services to patients to a desired level.

The officials said everyday, the hospital received 3,500 patients on average and most of them needed prompt services and the people suffered due to lack of beds and space.

They said under the plan, the work could be completed by 2020 as the patient load continued to increase while the space and services were too little to cater for patients.

The officials said the HMC located in the Hayatabad Township also received referral cases from other hospitals, including Lady Reading Hospital and Khyber Teaching Hospital in Peshawar, as those facilities also ran out of beds, so funds were sought to ensure early completion of A&ED work to deal with patient flow.

Officials said that enhancement of emergency and disaster response capacity was integral to strengthening tertiary care services for the region as the area witnessed acts of terrorism, with victims requiring sharp investigations and treatment.

They said presently, the patients were brought to the hospitals but they’re sent to the investigation sections located away from the A&ED, delaying the care of patients who required very fast treatment.

The officials said the new facility would have all services under one roof and patients would get timely care for general surgery, medical, gynecological, orthopedic, neurosurgery and women and child health issues.

They said a comprehensive A&ED would help reduce the maternal and child mortality rates because the mother and child were to receive services in a timely manner and their lives would be saved.

The officials said a lack of space in the current setup often led to public outcry because the people wanted prompt services that weren’t possible in a tiny place.

Adviser to the chief minister on health Ihtesham Ali didn’t respond to this correspondent’s repeated calls.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2025