LARKANA: As many as 71 patients with burn injuries were admitted in the Burns Ward of the Chandka Medical College Hospital (CMCH) during the past eight months from January to August 2021 out of which 16 major cases were referred to Karachi for further treatment and management and 14 among them died who were brought in critical condition. PPI learnt here on Wednesday.
24 patients were admitted in January 2021 out of which two were referred to Karachi in critical condition for proper treatment and management as the required facilities were unavailable at CMCH, nine patients were admitted in February, nine in March out of which two were shifted to Karachi, seven in April, five in May, five in June out of which two were shifted to Karachi, five in July out of which four were shifted to Karachi and six in August out of which two were referred to Karachi.
Shifting a large number of patients to Karachi proved that this Burns Center is lacking proper facilities due to which poor affected people continue to suffer very badly for negligence of others. The project of establishing five Burns Centers was approved in 2009-10 at the cost of Rs182.695 million in Sindh’s five major districts including Larkana, Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Mirpur Khas.
The joint PC-1 of these projects was prepared by the Health Department without consulting the concerned Hospitals and all the machinery, equipment and instruments were procured by them without enquiring from the end users about their requirements including availability of trained expert doctors, staff and plastic surgeons. Larkana’s Burns Center was estimated to be costing Rs37.355 million out of which Rs4.626 million were earmarked for capital use and Rs32.729 million were for revenue.
As many as 44 posts from BS-2 to18 were approved in the requisite PC-1 for CMCH project but so far the Finance Department has declined to release the SNE which was sent to it on 5th December, 2013 by CMCH authorities, sources alleged.
These posts include trained medics and paramedics to run an 8-bed capacity Burns Center. So far Chandka Medical College (CMC) and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University (SMBBMU) authorities have also failed to recruit Teaching Faculty for this vital scheme due to which it is feared that affected patients will continue to suffer more and will be referred to Karachi. There is no such well-equipped Center in the entire lower Sindh to treat the burn patients.
No new separate building was constructed for Burns Center, Larkana, but out of Rs4.626million only two new rooms were constructed and another two rooms of the old adjacent Casualty building were repaired, renovated and added to the Centre. The Center was then shifted to Casualty when the building was needed for dialysis.
Only one lady doctor has been posted in the morning, no doctor is posted in the evening and night shift is looked after by Casualty doctors. One 3-year child patient Nadia is admitted for six months as her family cannot afford to and fro travelling costs for daily treatment of her wounds which are healing.
Credible sources at the SMBBMU said that there is no Plastic Surgeon in the University and burn patients with minor injuries are looked after by CMC surgeons. These sources who requested anonymity for fear of consequences further said that advertisements were floated for hiring services of a qualified plastic surgeon but no one applied. These sources further said that proper facilities are not available hence no doctor is willing to come here for nothing.
Dr Gulzar Tunio, CMCH Additional Medical Superintendent, who looks after the entire Hospital after the Medical Superintendent, said that a Sindh government team along with World Bank representatives recently visited the Ward and assured us that required equipment and instruments will be provided to the Burns Ward for its smooth running.
He said till an expert plastic surgeon is not appointed it will be difficult adding skin grafting of the injured will be only carried out by him. He said OT is available but trained staff is yet to be appointed. He said SNE is still pending approval since long which needs to be disposed of forthwith so that poverty-stricken patients should not suffer or be referred to Karachi.