Daily Times

The National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM) administration is on a looting spree as wretched patients are forced to pay thousands of rupees in the name of software fee, Daily Times has learnt reliably.

As per the available information , NIRM charges Rs 20,000 from each patient being treated for surgery as software charges which not only adds to the miseries of helpless patients but also a question mark on the monitoring system of Ministry of National Health Service as well as other authorities concerned.

According to the available document, on average 200 to 400 patients visit the hospital for various kinds of treatment. In this way, NIRM earns thousands of rupees from these patients on a daily basis against aforementioned fee.

According to the document, the major objectives of the institute beside routine health services for the handicapped are to introduce, test and provide innovative rehabilitative techniques, perform research and act as a repository of information related to disabilities, provide technical support and guidance to policy makers and planners and the system as a whole for the care of the disabled.

Abdul Kareem from Gujrat told this scribe that he was suffering from spine injuries and was here to get treatment for this disease. “Someone in my native told me about this hospital and I decided to visit this one. I travelled by local transport and reached here around 9 am but found long queues outside the relevant department,” he said, adding that after getting the date for surgery it is done but it costs me a lot.

“Besides this Rs 20, 000 I also paid from my pocket for medicines and other small expenditures,” he recalled.

A senior official at NIRM, while wishing anonymity as she was not authorized to speak, said that there are two categories of patients being treated, one from self finance and others being paid directly through Pakistan Bait ul Mall (PBM) as per their prescribed criteria.

“Those who are financed by PBM are usually with poor financial background but most of them actually never deserved,” she said adding that those who actually deserved mostly managed to get funds from the PBM earliest as compared to others. “It’s due to the flawed system of this charity organization,” she said.

The official claimed that there are some reforms underway to upgrade the dilapidated condition of the hospital. As per sources, some unnecessary charges including this software fee were abolished some years back by the then administration. However, it was restored again a couple of years back.

The sources added that the health ministry authorities were also informed by some affectees patients through the Prime Minister Complaint Portal but no action was taken in this regard.

Established in 1988 under a presidential order to provide state of the art health care facilities for all type of disabilities, the NIRM was also having mandate to provide complete medical care including investigations, ward admission, medical consultation, surgery, medicines and surgical material, anesthesia, ICU care, post operative care, rehabilitation and the quality diet. The sources said that currently the hospital has failed to meet its basic objectives due to negligence of the authorities concerned.