The shortage of beds and medicines at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) is creating enormous problems for patients at Outdoor Patient Department (OPD) and emergency ward. According to PIMS official, the hospital had 1,144 beds, whereas the requirement of the different wards was double due to the increasing number of patients. According to him, as many as 25 percent patients were newly admitted while 75 percent came for their follow-up examinations.
The official said that over 90 patients were being admitted daily to the hospital. The patients at PIMS, while talking to agencies said that despite the fact that a large expansion had been made in the hospital to meet the growing needs of the public since 1985, the patients were still facing problems.
A patient Bilal Asghar said there was no bed available for his father in the hospital when they initially came in. “My father is admitted here and I came here two days ago from Sialkot. Now, I stand here besides his bed all the time,” he said. An attendant of a patient said that a large number of patients in the emergency ward of the hospital had to sleep on the floor, adding that medicines and beds were unavailable in the ward. He said the patients were advised to either be admitted to the private wards or wait for their turn to get a bed. Serious patients were discharged because of unavailability of beds, he added.
PIMS Assistant Executive Director (AED), while talking to agencies said that the growing rush of patients had created the problem.
