n November 30, a 65-year-old three-storey block at the Services Hospital, Lahore, collapsed, causing horror and panic on the hospital premises.

According to reports, a fire had started before the building buckled. Luckily, no casualty was reported as the block had been lying vacant on account of renovation.

The block had been home to departments of pediatric surgery, ENT and ophthalmology. At the time of the incident, a number of patients were under treatment in the adjacent wards of the hospital that included five surgical and four medical units; the ICU; and the high-dependency unit for dengue fever patients. The incident could potentially harm the patients as well as their attendants, doctors, nurses and other employees of the hospital.

A high-ranking inquiry was initiated to ascertain the actual cause of the incident. However, till the filing of this story, the committee had yet to reach a conclusion. Eyewitnesses say a host of labourers were at work on the day the incident happened. Some of them noticed the electricity wires catching fire and rushed out. As soon as they came out of the building, it collapsed with a loud bang. The hospital administration alerted Rescue 1122 and the police declared an emergency at the institute.

Rafia Haider, the Lahore deputy commissioner, rushed to the spot, and ordered an investigation into the incident.

It is pertinent to mention here that the caretaker government of the Punjab has started large-scale renovation work at public hospitals across the province. In Lahore, work is under way at Services, Mayo, Ganga Ram, General and Jinnah Hospitals.

The Young Doctors’ Association has contested the initiative, alleging that the project is meant for high-ranking government officials to make big bucks out of it.

Shoaib Niazi, the YDA president, speaks of “sheer violation of rules and regulations committed in the name of the [renovation] project.” He says advance payments were made to the contractors and prior approval of the medical superintendents wasn’t even sought.”

“It wasn’t long ago when these buildings were renovated,” says Shoaib Niazi, the YDA president. “Even the tiles removed from the collapsed building [at Services] weren’t very old.”

Niazi also speaks of “sheer violation of rules and regulations committed in the name of the project.” He says advance payments were made to the contractors and prior approval was not sought from the medical superintendents of these hospitals.

He adds, “We warned them repeatedly that the building was in a bad condition, and that the [renovation] work could further weaken its foundations. But no one paid heed to us. It could have been a bigger disaster.”

It’s unfortunate that the Emergency and Outpatient Departments of a number of public hospitals in the province have been closed for two weeks due to the ongoing renovation work. It is the patients and their attendants that are suffering the most. They have to run from pillar to post to get timely treatment.

ervices Hospital is not new to such incidents. During Shahbaz Sharif’s tenure as chief minister of the Punjab, six infants had died and some more had sustained injuries when fire erupted in the nursery. The then CM had taken notice of the incident and called for an investigation, but nothing came of it.

Dr Ijaz Warraich suggests that the administration of Services Hospital should immediately have all its old blocks vacated, in order to avoid loss of lives, and hand those over to the civil engineers to examine and inspect the structures.

The writer is a print and broadcast journalist