Patients getting rough treatment at PIMS

Lahore: The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Thursday said that patients and their attendants are getting unfair treatment in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).

The situation of the gynaecology department is worst among all where pregnant women face the step motherly attitude of the staff of the hospital in presence of deteriorating facilities. A survey carried out by the PEW revealed that apart from the routine patients those who opt for private wards don’t get any better behaviour. The air-conditioning plant is out of order since last ten days making life a living hell for patients and their attendants in the sizzling summer, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President PEW.

He said that over half of the refrigerators and fans are out of order in the private wards but the administration continue to charge. There is no arrangement for sahr and iftar in the private wards forcing everyone to get substandard food on high rates from canteens. Dozens of attendants can be seen waiting outside the labour room where there is not a single fan, seat or water dispenser.

Representatives of different medical stores can be seen luring relatives of patients outside the labour room while there is no arrangement for air-conditioning in the Intensive Care Unit.

Relatives of every patient are forced to donate blood if needed or not and the operation theatre give a look of slaughter house. The staff never forgets to get money from the relatives of every new-born which indicates lack of administrative control of the administrator of PIMS, the survey revealed. The condition of the hospital is in a disastrous state; maintenance of hygiene is very poor. One can find cats, rats and an uncountable number of cockroaches in the wards, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal. Open drains can be seen inside and outside of some of the wards which are one of the causes of the unbearable stench while some areas haven`t been cleaned for years.

It seems that the funds are not utilised in a proper ways and the administration of PIMS is not very competent and all it care for are the VIPs who get all the facilities free of cost, noted Dr. Mughal.