Daily Times

KARACHI: In an act of quackery, Kamal hospital, a multi-story private healthcare facility in the center of metropolitan is running its affair by technicians in the absence of any qualified doctor for quite some time, Daily Times learnt on Monday.

Apparently most of the patients, brought to Kamal Hospital, are referred from public healthcare facilities, where they are said that the particular public hospital has ran out of ventilators and in order to save the life of the patient, as, what the attendant are told that Kamal Hospital has enough ventilators. In this way, Kamal Hospital with the help of the staff pf these public hospitals get large number of patients and huge amount of money is charged from those patients. Karachi Civil Hospital and National Institute of Child Health (NICH), two of the major public hospital of Karachi are sending their patients to Kamal Hospital.

The situation doubles the miseries of the patients and attendants when they reach Kamal Hospital, but they are not provided any due treatment. To add worse, relatives of patients are forced to pay heavy charges in the name of treatment.

Sindh Health Department has however shown complete ignorance with any such practice.

During a visit last week relatives of a patient Baby Arina, one and half year old girl from Karachi’s Maruipur area who consumed Kerosine oil, told this scribe that they first took their patient to Civil Hospital, Karachi but instead of giving treatment, the staff referred them to Kamal Hospital. The reason Civil Hospital staff gave was shortage of ventilators.

“It was an emergency like situation for us but Civil Hospital did not care as they are use to it,” Waseem Ahmed uncle of Arina told Daily Times. As Shahid Hussain, father of Arina is jobless; Waseem is taking care of the family.

“Why would they care when there is collusion between two healthcare facilities. What they do is try to exploit the situation as people come in emergency and in condition of misery. Attendants, who take their patients to public care hospitals, are facing miserable life in these hospitals.”

Adding to the woes, Kamal Hospital did not provide ventilator. “More than 24 hours have passed but my daughter has not been provided ventilator up to now. They have already charged us more than Rs. 8,000 in the name of different medical tests. We have no option left but move some other private medical healthcare facility”

“Whether it is doctors, senior management or paramedic staff, most of them have collusion with Kamal Hospital management to earn commission. People, who take their patients to public care hospitals, are facing miserable life in these hospitals. They are blackmailing us,” Shahid added.

Mussawar Ali’s case was no different. Mussawar, 8 months old boy from Niazi Chowk, old Truck Stand, Lyari Karachi suffered with double pneumonia when his parents took him to NICH initially. But NICH staff instead of admitting Mussawar referred them to Kamal hospital.

“It has been six days for us here but Kamal Hospital but there is no doctor. They are not caring our patient with care. They have already charged more than Rs. 80,000. For example they charge Rs. 10,000 on the name of machine’s fee and rest for the medication,” said Shahid Nadeem, uncle of Mussawar. Ghulam Sarwar, father of the patient refused to talk as he thought nothing is going to work in this rotten system.

“We are short of money by Rs. 10,000 of the amount they have billed us. So the hospital administration is not releasing our patient until we pay them,” Shahid told.

On inquiring, administration of Kamal Hospital refused to respond this scribe and misbehaved. During twice visits, administration did not reveal the name of person on whose administration this hospital was working and were there any real doctors available to cater paitents.

Mohammad Moin, who introduced himself as staffer of the hospital said, since media is a “third party” between hospital administration and patients, the hospital administration was not bound to be given any version.

It is also know through reliable sources that the same administration which is running the Kamal hospital facility has another facility by the name of Shah Medical center in North Nazimabad where the technical staff with out any doctors is running the same show to extort out the people of Dist Central.

There is no hospital regulatory authority in Sindh or even in entire country. By default provincial health department has powers. It is there responsibility to check number of hospitals in the area whether government, semi government or private. It is also their responsibility to check any quackery practice.

District Health Officer (DHO) Karachi’s South district, among whose jurisdiction this hospital comes, showed ignorance about quackery practice being held in Kamal Hospital. “This is not in my knowledge. However I would send my focal person to visit the hospital and investigate,” he added.

Recently Sindh government appointed Professor Tipu Sultan as first Chairman of Sindh Healthcare Commission. The Commission is expedient to make provision for the improvement, access, equity, and quality of healthcare service, to ban quackery in all its forms and manifestations and to provide for ancillary matters. However it is not activated yet.

Director, National Institute of Child Heath (NICH) Karachi, Professor Dr Jamal Raza denied of NICH’s involvement in any business with Kamal Hospital.

“There is no such in my knowledge regarding referring NICH patient to Kamal Hospital for commission. However we do officially refer our patients to major designated hospitals sometime we lack capacity. But I don’t know about this particular hospital, the Kamal Hospital” said Dr Raza.

Dr Khadim Qureshi AMS Civil Hospital also denied any CHK’s involvement. “In some cases we only refer cases to territory care hospitals. This is not possible that CHK referring patients to any private hospital. However if anybody is doing this is his or her private capacity I am not aware of that. These actions should be curbed if happening,” he added.