PESHAWAR, Nov 27: With Eid round the corner a marked decrease in number of patients visiting government hospitals and private medical centres has been witnessed.

Three public-sector hospitals —  Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) — which often remain overcrowded in normal days as they cater to the entire population of the NWFP, record only a few number of patients during Ramazan.

These hospitals which usually receive about 10,000 patients a day, at present are providing treatment and diagnostic facilities to only 4,000 patients.

Out-patient departments, operations theatres, clinical and pathological laboratories and surgical units in these hospitals wear a deserted look.

Talking to Dawn, doctors said people wanted to celebrate Eid with their families and avoid surgeries or treatment at a hospital in the month of Ramazan. Patients are delaying even minor operations like appendectomies, hemorrhiodectomies etc, in Ramazan, said a general surgeon at the KTH.

He claimed that people could observe fast even after being operated upon for a minor ailment. He said delaying treatment of diseases was not a healthy precedent as the patients would have to face difficulties due to heavy rush in these hospitals after Eid.

The arrival of Ramazan has also cut down the number of patients at the institution-based practice (IBP) and the three teaching hospitals have been receiving less than 300 patients a day as against 1,500 patients they used to receive before the start of Ramazan. The doctors come to the IBP centres at 2pm and leave by 4pm, because of lack of patients.

Not only the state-run hospitals, the private medical centres also wear a deserted look and consultants see patients only for a short time.