LAHORE: Punjab government provides millions of rupees in funds to several governmental hospitals, which, despite claiming to provide the best medical facilities to patients, are still unequipped with burn units.
In Lahore, the sole hospital for children, Children’s Hospital, still does not have a burn unit. Similarly, the administration of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital has shut down its burn unit and transformed the facility into a dengue ward which has posed problems to several patients coming to the hospital.
In the Government Nawaz Sharif Hospital Yakki Gate, the burn unit comprises of only 2 beds. In the city’s largest hospital, Mayo Hospital, the burn unit consists of only 11 beds. Whereas in Jinnah Hospital, a burn unit was made for 200 beds with only 20 beds actually placed for patients. Services Hospital which is situated in a posh area of Lahore also awaits a burn centre. And even though there is a burn unit in Sheikh Zayed Hospital, it is not under the effective supervision of a medical doctor.
Speaking about the lack of burn units in hospitals and ignorance about their need, Dr. Imran said that despite hospitals receiving millions in funds for burn units, this important facility is being overlooked. He said that it’s because of medical professionals who are unfaithful to their profession; taking provincial and federal ministers in confidence, they enjoy millions made available by the government as funds. He added that a few years ago, the profession of doctors’ was deemed the work of God in which the doctors were considered to be honest in their work; but today they seem no different from police itself. He said corrupt doctors are giving a bad name to their profession; there is a strike at some hospital or a doctor is found in the middle of a scandal, every other day. He said that he himself is a doctor and finds that his profession has become a money making machine. He also criticised professors and senior doctors of various hospitals who he said make no real difference if they are present or not on duty. He concluded that Punjab government should try to rid the profession from politics and offer support to the poor, helpless patients.
On the other hand, more and more patients with burn injuries are seeking treatment from private hospitals, which is something that the government ought to think about with respect to the negligence of burn units in governmental hospitals. The real reason for this negligence is ministers, who, even though transfer funds to the hospitals, collude with the professors and embezzle millions without ever being held accountable.
Doctors at Pakistan Medical Association say that the government should not overlook an important department like burn units at hospitals. They said that such a facility needs to be urgently installed at Children’s Hospital whereas a burn unit at Jinnah Hospital needs to be fully functional.