Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Mother Child Healthcare (MCH) centre at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) that is regarded as the largest maternal health facility of the country has become a sorry tale of gross mismanagement, neglect and nepotism, Daily Times learnt.

During a visit to the MCH, it was observed that owing to non-professional conduct of the PIMS staff, the emergency centre at MCH has become a ‘death trap’ for expectants. The emergency department has remained unsuccessful to entertain outsider patients in absence of senior doctors in recent years. The unskilled non- professional junior gynaecology practitioners are assigned to perform even complicated delivery procedures. Due to non-professional and unskilled approach of these practitioners, the patients with serious complications are mainly mistreated.

As far as the MCH outdoor patient department is concerned, the situation is not quite different either. The kith and kin of the PIMS staff are given treatment on priority basis while common patients have to wait for their turns.

The Department of Gynaecology was set up in MCH centre in 1999 with the collaboration of Japan. It was a gift from people of Japan to people of Pakistan. The 125-bedded unit comprises of an indoor facility as well as a separate outdoor patients department and MCH training centre.

In the general ward of the MCH, only 12 beds are available while number of the registered (admitted) patients is almost double. One bed is accommodating three patients and some patients are kept lying on the floor.

To acquire bed space in private ward is another nuisance for attendants. Many of them have to pay several visits to attain this facility owing the growing illness of their patients. Meanwhile, the patients having influential references are being accommodated.

It is also learnt that the administration of MCH has refused to accommodate non-residents of the federal capital. This has added to the woes of expectants coming from far- flung areas.

While talking to Daily Times a 26-year-old expectant Sidra Bibi said that she had given birth to two children at MCH few years ago. “The administration has denied me routine check- up card because I am a non-resident of the federal capital,” she added.

PIMS Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Javed Akram said that the administration did not have any discriminatory approach towards patients. The MCH attends 350 expectants in OPD on a daily basis, which mostly hail from far- flung areas.

“If you give me the details of denial of treatment to expectants at MCH, I would investigate the matter myself”, he told Daily Times

When asked about mismanagement, malfunctioning and nepotism in MCH, he said that the centre is smoothly handling indoor and outdoor patients within its resources adding that the doctors, nurses as well as paramedical staff are fully cooperating with visitors. “In case of one or two improperly dealt cases out of 350 in a day then the entire management should not be blamed”, he added.