People visiting the Holy Family Hospital (HFH), one of the three big hospitals of the city, could often be seen complaining about the lack of basic facilities in the hospital, coupled with the rude behaviour of the doctors and nurses.
The holy family hospital was established in 1948, but unfortunately, it portrayed an ugly look due to its pathetic condition because of the unhygienic environment and lack of proper medicare facilities for patients.
Patients at the hospital mainly suffered a lot due to non-availability of a proper orthopaedic department and orthopaedic doctors in the hospital.
A senior official told Pakistan Today that the orthopaedic doctor of Benazir Hospital was visiting two days a week to the hospital against a huge number of patients daily visited the facility.
Due to lack of basic facilities, most of the poor patients were being referred to the private outlets for treatment, as two or more patients shared a bed in the hospital, he added.
Talking to this scribe, the patients complained that the officials of the hospital were known for their misbehaviour, as they paid little attention to the poor patients and only those were paid attention who had strong references.
A patient Sarmad Abbasi complained that a good number of patients daily visited the facility, but they had to then opt for private clinics as there was no orthopaedic department.
He said that the staff kept him for an hour in the emergency but for no good because the hospital was ill-equipped to provide even a proper first aid.
The irate patient said that the employees of the hospital behaved so rudely that a person never wanted to visit the hospital again.
Arif Abbasi, whose brother fractured his bones in a bike accident, said that he went to the emergency of the hospital, but not a single doctor was even ready to give an emergency treatment.
He said that he came to the head of the department with a strong reference and complained to him. He told that only then, the employees were alerted and they started cleaning and dressing his brother’s bruises.
However, he said that the due to the non-availability of an orthopedic surgeon, they passed through a great ordeal.
While sharing his bitter experience in the hospital, Shahid Anjum said, “The staff appointed in the medical unit is non-cooperative, as they did not know the ethics of their noble profession. Actually, my mother was admitted in the hospital on February 16, 17 due to severe pain in the abdomen, which resulted in vomiting, but she was discharged on February 21, 2017, without a change in her health condition.”
He said that the staff was of the view that CT scan was clear and patient did not have any major disease, so she could recover at home with medicine. However, he said that her mother faced great pain so eventually he had to take her to a private hospital and get her treated there.
It is pertinent to mention here that Awami Muslim League (AML) Chief Sheikh Rashid launched a project to build a separate 600-bed mother-and-child hospital on Asghar Mall Road in 2006, but the hospital building is still not fully functioning for the last 10 years because the Punjab government undermines the project due to political grievances against Awami Muslim League President Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.
The number of patients at HFH is increasing every day and the construction of the facility could reduce the burden of HFH considerably; however, it has been delayed unnecessarily.
A senior doctor at the hospital said that it was easy to blame them for the problems because the fact was that they were helpless in the face of a shortage of beds.
He said that they could feel the pain to refuse admission to the patients but sometimes, they were left with no option but to refer patients to other hospitals.
However, he said that the government gave little attention to the health sector and lack of basic facilities in such a historical hospital speaks volume of it, accepting that the staffers would have to improve their attitude because it had great impacts on the patient’s health.
Talking to Pakistan Today, a senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) Shakil Awan said that the government was planning to transfer the charge of waste disposal to the Turkish firm Al-Buraq.
He said that there were some issues regarding Rawalpindi Waste Management Company (RWMC), but now RWMC board has been formed and the charge of cleanliness would be given to the company so as to resolve the issue once and for all.
He said that lack of proper orthopaedic department in the hospital was a serious issue due to which the patients had been suffering a lot; however, he said that the government had committed to resolving this issue also.
To a question regarding the lack of capacity in the hospital, he said that the hospital has been expanded considerably; however, he said that it would be further expanded according to the growing population need.