PESHAWAR: Due to lack of facilities caused by a shortage of funds, the patients visiting and admitted to Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), the biggest medical facility in Peshawar, are facing problems.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led provincial government has utterly failed to fulfil its promises to provide affordable healthcare to the poor and needy at LRH. The hospital faces a shortage of medicines and the patients have to purchase them separately from the nearby markets.
Medical Director (MD) of the Hospital Dr Mukhtiar Zaman said that despite a demand of Rs5 billion in from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government, they were provided only Rs1 million which was insufficient. He added that the LRH administration purchased medicines worth Rs200 million but the process had been halted due to a shortage of funds.
Dr Zaman further said that medicines worth Rs340 million were provided to patients in the past year.
Among other issues, the hospital lacks an ICU for treatment of a significant number of children admitted to the hospital on an everyday basis.
According to the hospital, approximately 6,000 patients from across the province and FATA visit for OPD services, out of which 1,000 patients are children. About 80 to 100 children are admitted to the hospital, however, there is no separate ICU facility for children admitted for critical issues.
The children are admitted to the general ICU facility where there is already a shortage of beds and facilities.
The hospital’s condition remains abysmal despite the announcement by the PTI Chairman Imran Khan to transform the hospital on the lines of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre.
Despite the introduction of reforms and increment in salaries of employees, no concrete changes can be seen in the hospital.
