“We have been forced to take shelter here as we do not have any other place to stay,” said Farzana Jabeen, a 38-year-old woman from Chakwal, who has been sitting on a mat outside the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital OPD for the last ten days.
“We have been here for the last ten days as my 26-year-old nephew, who received head injuries in an accident, is being treated in the surgical emergency ward,” she added.
This is not a solitary tale, as every second attendant sitting under the shades of tress outside the OPD, Children Hospital or maternal and child health care centres have heart touching stories to share.
Attendants who come to PIMS from far flung areas have no other place to take shelter, as hotels and rest-houses are too expensive: they are thus forced to take shelter under tress outside PIMS. They are prepared to face any number of hardships so their loved ones could receive free treatment.
The attendants who accompany patients suffer twice: due to the pain of their loved ones in the hospital, and also due to non-availability of accommodations if their stay exceeds a day.
In an open place they lack many basic facilities such as clean drinking water, sanitation and proper meals thrice a day. However, the government, NGOs or international organisations have not contributed in providing assistance to attendants.
PIMS is a big 950 bedded public hospital, where the daily admission of inpatients is around 115. These figures are inclusive of the main hospital (592 beds, daily average admission of 60 patients), the children’s hospital (230 beds, daily average admission of 30 patients) and the maternal and child health care centre (125 beds, daily average admission of 25 patients).
But this capacity is hardly adequate for a medical facility that is supposed to serve a population of well over 40 million people.
PIMS is also a national referral hospital for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir as well as northern Punjab – a region comprising a total population of over 40 million.
Although these areas have their own district level hospitals, patients flock to PIMS because they can avail cheaper medical tests here, like CT scans, along with free treatment.
Manzoor Hussain came from Kashmir to get treatment of his niece, Rubab Kiani – a patient of leukemia. Rubab was diagnosed with this fatal disease when bleeding started from her mouth and nose at the age of two.
He has to set-up camp outside the hospital with his wife and a five-year-old daughter, as they have no other place to stay.
“We are here from Kabul; my bother’s son who is 3 was also diagnosed with leukemia. We have brought him here for treatment as there is no proper place for it back home,” said Yousaf Khan. He has been staying on a plastic mat outside the hospital for two days now.
“Siara Akhtar has a distorted leg by birth,” said Azeem Aktar, father of 5-year- old girl. “Doctors have operated her once and now they are going to operate her again,” he added.
It is a fact that accidents, diseases and mishaps are part of human life and people prefer to take their patients to the best resourced hospitals, yet they have to face immense hardships once they come to big hospitals like PIMS.
