Baqar transfers MS over pathetic state of Civil Hospital Khairpur

KHAIRPUR: After witnessing the pathetic conditions prevailing at the Civil Hospital Khairpur, Sindh caretaker chief minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar on Wednesday ordered the transfer of the facility’s medical superintendent.

The interim CM also suspended the services of the hospital’s finance director, and ordered the officials concerned to conduct a thorough inquiry into the facility’s affairs.

Accompanied by his Principal Secretary Hassan Naqvi and Health Secretary Dr Mansoor Rizvi, Baqar paid a surprise visit to the Civil Hospital to witness the conditions of its different wards, laboratories and radiology department. He also interacted with the patients there.

In the emergency section, male and female patients were lying on beds that were without any bedsheets, while there was no segregation between male and female patients. The beds were scattered and there was no oxygen supply, while monitors and even nebulisers were out of order lying on the floor with multiple layers of dust on them.

Replying to a question, the hospital’s MS told the caretaker CM that there were no lady doctors on duty in the emergency, and that there was only one lady doctor who was called to the hospital on an emergency basis.

This irked Baqar, who told the MS to behave like a doctor and hospital administrator. “How can you allow such a mess, mismanagement, unprofessional attitude in a hospital where more than 3,000 patients visit regularly?” he said, adding that the 550-bed facility was being run like a dispensary.

He then visited the radiology department and inspected the dark room where the X-rays are processed, finding it to be in a pathetic and dirty condition. He said that it seemed to him that the room had never been cleaned since it was commissioned.

He also checked the laboratory, which had good equipment but some of them were out of order, while no effort had been made to fix them.

He then visited the pharmacy, where no appropriate record of the medicines being administered to the patients was maintained. A private pharmacy was operating on hospital premises, which prompted Baqar to direct the health secretary to get it sealed.

The interim CM also inspected the kitchen, where he was told that food was being prepared for 350 patients. The kitchen looked like an abandoned room where cooking had not been done for a long time.

The MS and the finance director failed to show the expenditures incurred during the past few months in running the hospital. They also did not have any record of the doctors present on duty and on leave. Baqar then ordered transferring the MS and suspended the finance director.

Unsafe school

The caretaker CM also visited an old school, the Government Naz Secondary High School, which had been established in 1906. He found the condition of the school building to be precarious.

He noticed that the enrolment at the school was over 900, but the presence of students on Wednesday was around 70 per cent of the total enrolment.

The lab and the library had no electric lights, while the library lacked a stock of books. The toilets of the schools were completely choked, while the electric water coolers were out of order. The interim CM expressed displeasure over the situation, and directed the deputy commissioner concerned to revive the past glory of the historical school established over an area of 48 acres.

He observed that the school had a beautiful garden but it had not been maintained properly. He summoned the executive engineer of the building and directed him to renovate the building within a month, warning him that he would face an inquiry in case of failure.

Visit to Gims

The caretaker CM also visited the Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences (Gims), where he checked the hospital’s requirements, inventory, patients aid system and overall expenditures. He directed the Gims director to reconcile all their accounts with the provincial finance and health departments so that their Rs2 billion annual deficit can be overcome. It may be noted here that the Sindh government provides Gims an annual grant of Rs6 billion.