An 86 year old philanthropist Dr Ghulam Sarwer has spent almost all his income to make his dream come true of constructing a state of the art 20-bed burn centre at Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Hospital (ABSH) Gujrat. The hospital has been donated to the government of Punjab in 2015 as per the already agreed formula.
However, the aged philanthropist and his family were shocked because of the lackluster response from the provincial government to make the much needed and fully equipped facility operational despite lapse of over a year. This strengthens the perception that the health sector falls low in the priority list of the incumbent government.
As per the documents available with Pakistan Today, the newly constructed building of 20 bedded Dr Ghulam Sarwar burn unit at Aziz Bhatti Hospital, is affiliated with the Nawaz Sharif Medical College, covers around an area of two kanals. Documents reveal that it had been handed over to the government since December 7, 2015.
According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the agency, Dr. Ghulam Sarwar and service providers ABSH in 2014, the agency is bound to construct, complete and fully equip the burn care centre. Government must allocate its own resources to provide state of the art and sophisticated therapeutic, plastic and reconstructive surgical facilities to the burnt patients of the region in accordance with the laid down plan. The service providers will facilitate the agency with the provision of piece of land within the hospital premises for the project.
The agency pledged for the repair of building and machinery/equipment for three years from the date of handing over the project to the government of Punjab.
After remaining closed for more than a year, Dr Ghulam Sarwar renovated the burn centre by spending his pension money, hoping that the government might take care of the facility.
When it came into the knowledge of Director Head of burn bare centre at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Prof Tariq Iqbal, who along with his team members visited the facility and took up the gauntlet to train the staff of the facility to make it properly functional and equip the burn centre.
It is pertinent to mention here that the PIMS Burn Centre is the only state of the art burn facility in the country which offers free of cost treatment to the burnt patients.
The ABSH medical superintendent wrote a letter to the Punjab Government in 2015 that 95 posts were to be created at the Burn Unit in order to ensure smooth functioning of the facility and for its optimal utilisation.
“A state of the art, fully equipped, tertiary care level burn unit with emergency, isolation rooms and operation theatre facilities, is in its finishing stage. The total expenditure is being met with donations by a local philanthropist,” the letter states.
Candidates for posts of consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeons, consultant anaesthetist, medical officers, head nurse, charge nurse, biomedical technician, junior technicians/dresser and other staff were required.
A senior health official said that 57 professionals were shortlisted but only 17 joined their posts, adding that the centre is being run by only one assistant professor now.
“It is quite unfortunate that one family is bearing all expenses for the repair of the machinery and other equipment at the facility for three years. The government does not sanction the agreed staffers to make the facility fully functional,” he added.
Talking to Pakistan Today, the PIMS burn centre spokesperson confirmed that PIMS burn centre offered its assistance to the facility and added that they would provide telemedicine assistance for technical guidance to the staffers as well as training the staff members every month.
He said that two doctors, one nurse and one dresser would be trained every month, adding that it was PIMS’s own initiative to provide assistance to the facility because the philanthropist had already spent almost all his savings.
