BKMC Swabi treats 264,000 patients in 2021

SWABI: The Bacha Khan Medical Complex (BKMC) has gained public trust and confidence after being declared as a Medical Teaching Institute (MTI) and received 264,000 patients in 2021 in which 1,500 patients were treated free of charge under Sehat Sahulat Programme.

After being declared as MTI and run by the Board of Governors (BoG), the hospital improved its services and increased the number of outdoor patients ((OPDs) from 700 to 1,400.

Before getting the MTI status, the hospital used to be a tertiary care hospital, but it lacked most of the services and patients were mostly referred to Mardan and Peshawar.

The hospital administration has now started the institutional-based practice (IBP) that enables the patients to get better healthcare in the hospital.

The hospital also provided the latest equipment for its Pathology Department. Last year the Pathology Department undertook 2,84000 various tests, said Hospital Director Dr Khalid Masud.

Before joining BKMC, Dr Khalid Masud served in the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) as manager OPD. He faced some problems after joining BKMC but finally put the hospital on track.

Before getting the MTI status, the hospital OPD ranged between 700 to 800 that has risen to 1300 to 1400 due to improvement in the system and the provision of better services.

Dr Khalid said he had not achieved his 100 percent goals yet, but was happy to have brought some visible changes to the institution. One major challenge to him was the availability of doctors and support staff in the hospital during duty hours. He managed it without creating any issue with the staff.

The construction work on some blocks was accelerated with support of the BoG and soon they will have another block for emergency, burns and trauma. “My first priority is to make all facilities available to the patients. We don’t want patients to be referred to Peshawar or elsewhere as our people are poor and can’t afford to take patients to distant places,” he told The News.

Only last year, more than 94,350 people were brought to the Accident and Emergency Department of the hospital and all of them were provided treatment professionally.

Around 14,8976 patients were facilitated in the Out-Patients Department (OPDs) while more than 20,000 patients were admitted to different wards.

According to last year’s data, about 2,000 surgical procedures were performed in the hospital, and the highest number of patients, 2,223 got admitted in November 2021.

In 2021, over 385,200 diagnostic tests were undertaken in the hospital including x-ray, ECG, ECHO, ECG CJT, CT scan, Litho, ETT, Mammography, Endoscopy, and dialysis.

Dr Khalid Masud said the hospital in July 2021 got the MTI status and in a very short span of time, there was a marked difference in services, including treatment, hygiene and other facilities.

Despite the unfavourable conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic, he said the doctors in BKMC performed well and were always available to the public at the hospital.

He said another major achievement of the MTI status being run by the board of governors and constantly facilitating the hospital management in improving services, the hospital won trust of the local community as new services were introduced, and the previous facilities were upgraded.

Dr Khalid Masud said they strictly discouraged unnecessary referrals from BKMC to other hospitals.

He said it was as a result of teamwork consisting of Dean Gajju Khan Medical College Prof. Dr. Shamsur Rahman, Medical Director Dr. Shahid Nisar Khalid, Nursing Director, Manager Facility Management and heads of all other departments plus supporting staff that the public placed trust in the hospital.

He said another reason behind the increase in the number of patients was the launch of the institutional-based private practice.

Medical Director Dr. Shahid Nisar Khalid and Dean GKMC Prof. Dr. Shamsur Rahman were also attending IBP. The hospital administration has hired more specialist doctors and soon they will join the IBP.