KARACHI:Executive Director, Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center (JPMC) Prof Dr Shahid Rasool said on Wednesday that the Sindh government had increased the number of beds in the hospital from 1,100 to 2,200 while keeping in view the increasing number of patients.

Explaining the performance of the last nine months to media, Rasool said that after completion of surgical complex and new wards, the number of beds in the hospital had increased to 2,200. He added that the annual budget of the hospital had been increased by around Rs3 billion from Rs4.5 billion to Rs7.25 billion in the fiscal year 2022-23.

“Earlier, there were 1,100 beds and the hospital was getting the funds as per previous number of beds,” he added. He said that JPMC earlier was a teaching hospital under control of the federal authorities, but after the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the administrative matters of the hospital were devolved to Sindh province which created shortage of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff.

However, the provincial government increased the slots of postgraduate doctors and also allowed recruitment of lower staff from grade 1 to 16 under the contingency plan to meet the shortage of staff. He hoped that the patients care would significantly improve after fresh hiring.

Rasool said that the process promotion of nurses and paramedics was also affected due to the devolution; however, incumbent administration had reinitiated upgradation and promotion of the staff. In response to a question, Rasool said that the administration was trying to get nursing, physiotherapy and other institutes affiliated with Jinnah Sindh Medical University.

“If the JSMU faculty gets affiliated with the hospital, the performance of the institution would be further improved,” he added. Rasool said that after the increase in budget, the central laboratory was being upgraded and basic diagnostic tests would be performed free and patients would be given huge relief in upcoming months.

He said that the procedure of providing medicines to the patients and admission of patients in the wards were being upgraded in the line with modern pattern. The JPMC Executive Director said that modern robotic surgery machine would soon be installed in the hospital which would be of great benefit to the surgeons and patients.