MULTAN:Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) termed Nishtar Hospital a hotbed of problems for patients, attendants, doctors, nurses, and paramedics in the name of the renovation of the health facility and requested the Punjab Government to take notice of it.
Speaking at a news conference at Multan press Club here on Tuesday President PMA, Dr Masood Hiraj along with office bearers, Dr Sheikh Abdul Khaliq, Dr Zulqarnain, Dr Tariq Waqar, Dr Umair Mahmood, and others deplored that a whopping sum of Rs 936 million was being spent on already well-maintained wards, He disclosed that in first phase work in the name of renovation in Nishtar Hospital has not been completed yet and over half portion of many wards were deprived of the central oxygen supply.
The Nishtar administration has further closed ward nos No. 4, 12, 10A, Radiology Ward No. 13, Dengue Ward no 26, 17, and Ward 20, while many of these wards are already well-maintained. A lot of funds have been given to Nishtar Hospital by the government but they are being misused, he alleged adding that the eyes of the Punjab government and health department were kept in the dark.
President PMA further said that due to the incompetence of the Nishtar administration, even basic lab tests and medicines are not available in the hospital, patient beds, and many machinery including emergency lifts are nonfunctional.
In addition to this, the sewage system in the health facility is damaged, Dr. Masood said adding emergency and outdoor expansion was urgently needed due to the rush, but the focus of the Nishtar administration is only on renovation, he maintained. PMA demands from the Punjab Government and higher authorities to pay attention to these issues and unnecessary and substandard renovations should be probed.
A third party should be involved so that government funds can be properly utilized where needed so that poor patients can get the best treatment facilities, he concluded.