KARACHI: A latest robotic surgery machine of the Sindh government’s Qatar Hospital in Orangi Town, has been lying idle for the last five years due to the shortage of funds and trained staff.
Pakistan’s first advanced Robotic Surgery Machine was installed at an Operation Theater (OT) of the hospital in 2011.
Sindh ex-Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan had inaugurated the latest robotic machine in October 2011.
This costly machine has been lying idle in the hospital since 2014 as hospital administration does not have enough funds and skilled staff.
An official of Qatar Hospital, Orangi Town, said that some major advantages of robotic surgery are precision, miniaturization, smaller incisions, decreased blood loss, less pain, and quicker healing time.
The hospital administration had performed 70 successful surgeries from 2011 to 2014 time period but later surgeries through robotic machine had been stopped due to unavailability of funds.
The hospital management had sent several requests to high ups of health department government of Sindh for the release of funds to run the robotic machine on prominent basis but no positive response has been received from authorities concerned.
He said the cost of per surgery is mullion of rupees at private hospitals while Qatar Hospital had performed all surgeries free of cost before this machine developed a technical fault.
Sources said funds needed for repairing of robotic machine and hospital administration had sent a request to authorities concerned of Sindh health department for release of funds to get this machine repaired and run.
The machine will help doctors perform surgeries, including partial nephrectomy and radical nephrectomy or removal of the prostate gland, removal of cancerous tumours and kidneys infected with renal cell carcinomas.
Medical Superintendent, Sindh Government Qatar Hospital, Orangi Town, Dr Enayat Kandro, while talking to PPI, admitted that robotic surgery machine has been lying non-functional for several years and the request has been sent to high ups of Sindh health department to make operational this machine.
