–Over 1.462m patients visit PolyClinic in six months
ISLAMABAD: Despite uncertain security situation in the country, the government has yet to take measures to ramp up the security of the Federal Government Polyclinic (FGPC).
The mushroom growth of illegal kiosks around the hospital and the long-abandoned Argentina Park poses a serious security threat to the staffers, as well as the visitors to the hospital.
The visitors and the staffers of the hospital expressed serious reservations over the lack of security arrangements.
Shahid Abbasi, a visitor, told Pakistan Today that the hospital was facing a serious security threat. He lamented that the apathy of the authorities persists despite a large number of patients and visitor visiting frequently.
“God forbid, the unchecked entry and exit of the visitors to the hospital could prove disastrous; hence it is need of the hour to take a prompt action to tighten up the security of the facility,” he added.
Ali Nawaz, a patient, said that the Policlinic, being the oldest hospital, should have well-planned security arrangements, but despite prevailing uncertain security situation, the poor security arrangements are beyond comprehension.
To a question, he said that unfortunately, in Pakistan, the authorities only take actions after the occurrence of any untoward incident.
A senior private security official at the hospital, wishing anonymity, told this scribe that there is a total of around 60 security personnel doing duty around the clock in two shifts.
He said that they are doing 12 hours duty and are being paid only Rs 14,000 salary with no food, but only uniform and residence are provided.
However, he said that though they have limited resources, they thoroughly check all the people entering the hospital.
The security guard said that the hospital management always opted to hire the company offered low bid; otherwise, there are good security companies who could provide better security to the hospital.
The government has passed a bill that labourers’ salaries would be at least Rs 16,000 but it is not yet implemented, he lamented, demanding that salaries should be brought at least at par what the government promised.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Dr Sharif Astori, a spokesperson of the Policlinic, said that the hospital is facing serious security issues mainly due to the unchecked growth of kiosks around the hospital and the Argentina Park.
He said that all types of people could be seen sitting on the unauthorized kiosks, but there is no mechanism to check their identity.
He said that people are coming and going to the kiosks without any check and it is a daily routine.
Moreover, he said that different type of people sits in the park all night, a serious security, not only to the staffers and patients but also to the residents of the locality.
Astori said that the security arrangement in the hospital is satisfactory, but there is a need to enhance police patrolling around the hospital to keep a close check on the visitors to the hospital along with other people.
He expressed his disappointment that a number of letters were written to Islamabad Police, Capital Development Authority (CDA) and other concerned authorities regarding the issue, but all that was in exercise in futility, as no action has been taken about it so far.
Astori said that the CDA should make at least a weekly round to clean the areas, a big issue for the hospital. CDA spokesperson Mazhar Hussain could not be reached for his comments on the issue.
Over 1.462m patients visit PolyClinic in six months: PolyClinic has issued its six months performance reports according to which over 1.462 million patients have been checked only in the ODP.
According to the detail, a total of 1,462,590 patients has checked in to the OPD of the hospital from January to June 2017.
The reports showed that most of the patients were later hospitalised depending on their condition.
A lot of patients visit the facility due to an availability of an evening shift, along with free medicines.
However, due to a massive crowd, the patients also face hardships most of the time because of less space; however, the expansion plan of the hospital is pending since long.
A senior doctor in the hospital told Pakistan Today, they have started health change in the FGPC since assuming the charge by Dr Zahid Larik as a permanent Executive Director (ED) of the Policlinic, who issued strict directives to all concern departments to submit their monthly reports.
He said that the situation in the hospital was fast deteriorating due to the absence of a permanent ED in the hospital. However, the remarkable improvement could be felt in a short span of time.
