Lahore: The situation at the largest government hospital in Rawalpindi, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, has become extremely dire. The Special Monitoring Unit report submitted to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has revealed that most of the doctors in the hospital are absent from duty while the paramedical staff is also negligent in their responsibilities.
According to the report, there is a huge rush of patients in the emergency and OPD, but only two counters are functional. 80% of medicines are not available in the hospital, due to which patients are forced to buy medicines from outside. Toilets are dirty, water filtration plants are damaged and drinking water is unsafe.
It was further revealed that huge amounts of money are being collected from patients as bribes for surgery. Instead of joining the queue, a patient was asked for Rs 90,000 for immediate surgery. The inspection team also said that the staff misbehaves with the patients, while the hospital’s DMS threatened the team.
The hospital has financial liabilities of Rs 440 million and there is no biometric system for staff attendance. The report says that the situation in the hospital needs urgent improvement.
