Patients suffer as Shangla hospital lacks healthcare facilities

 

ALPURI: The patients and their attendants face numerous problems owing to inadequate healthcare facilities and mismanagement at the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital in Alpuri, Shangla.

“The hospital has become a symbol of administrative failure and inadequate healthcare services due to which the patients and their families felt frustrated,” Zarwali Khan, an attendant of a patient told The News.

The hospital, he said, established for a population of over 800,000, was grappling with severe shortage of staff, essential medical supplies mismanagement, particularly in the emergency department. Sources inside the hospital also said that despite handling up to 200 emergency cases daily, there was only one junior doctor and a childcare nurse in its emergency unit.

They said that patients often had to wait for hours for simple procedures, like having a bandage, while attendants were being sent to purchase basic medical items such as painkillers and IV sets from the market. The people visiting the DHQ Hospital always complain about the poor emergency services but there is no one to streamline the things.

Besides resources shortage, the sources added that the behavior of hospital staff had become intolerable for the patients and their attendants. They said that staff, including nurses and doctors, always meted out an indifferent attitude towards the patients. Administrative mismanagement is the main issue, a source said. He said that the DHQ Hospital had over 360 staff members, including 50 doctors, 52 nurses, and 170 class-four workers, but they did not perform duty devotedly due to poor monitoring system.

The emergency department, which is a crucial section of the healthcare services at the hospital, is in shambles and the patients arriving at night, particularly those requiring urgent care such as deliveries, are often referred to hospitals in Swat without any examination or treatment. Similarly, the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) has also been shut down after doctors transferred out of the hospital, leaving only nurses to manage the department. These nurses reportedly complete their shifts and leave promptly.

Concerns about corruption have also surfaced, particularly regarding the misuse of the Sehat Card (Health Card) system. Despite public complaints about the lack of transparency in the card’s operations and inquiries into alleged corruption, no meaningful steps have been taken to resolve the issues.

The sources said that doctors used to send patients to private clinics or laboratories where they earn hefty commissions. Recently, they added that Shangla deputy commissioner had sent a detailed letter to the commissioner of Malakand for provision of more doctors and facilities for the hospital.The residents of Shangla have demanded the government to take notice of the issues and take action against the mismanagement and lack of healthcare facilities at the DHQ HHospital.