Closure of dialysis units of 15 machines at Benazir General Hospital, Rawalpindi, due to upgradation work has put the lives of kidney patients at stake.
As a result, the patients were referred to Holy Family Hospital and Civil Hospital for dialysis, while most of the patients had to visit private hospitals for undergoing dialysis treatment at highly inflated rates.
Ten dialysis machines are operating in Holy Family Hospital and four at District Headquarters Hospital Rawalpindi. Pressure of work has increased in these two hospitals due to closure of dialysis units at Benazir hospital.
Five old machines were already operating at Benazir hospital and due to increase in kidney patients, 10 more dialysis machines were provided to this hospital. In order to make these new machines functional and connect them with RS system and ongoing work of upgradation of Urology Department, the dialysis machines were closed down. When contacted Benazir General Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Asif Qadir Mir said that dialysis unit had been closed down due to upgradation work in the Urology Department. Dialysis process would be restored as soon as the RS system was installed, he added.