KARACHI: Sindh’s oldest maternity hospital, known as Sobhraj Maternity Hospital (SMH), has been facing acute shortage of anesthesiologists since one and half year and hospital administration is unable to run Operation Theater (OT) in evening and night shift.
The Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) run hospital situated in Urdu Bazaar area of Karachi is facing acute short of staff as there are no anesthesiologists available in the healthcare institution in evening and night shifts. The shortage of anesthesiologists has put the hospital management in trouble in running its OT services round the clock.
Sources at Sobhraj Maternity Hospital told PPI that presently, there is only one anesthesiologists available in this maternity hospital in the morning shift. The hospital administration is facing hardship to cater to the emergency patients in evening and night shift. The administration has hired a private anesthesiologist for evening and night shifts to run OT services.
The Pediatric Unit of Sobhraj Hospital has also been closed due to shortage of pediatricians. The nursery of the hospital is in very poor state while newborn babies are being shifted to nearby hospitals due to shortage of ventilators and other facilities.
The key posts of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff are also lying vacant and no new hiring was done in hospital since ten years. The hospital is also facing shortage of life-saving medicines and poor patients have been compelled to buy medicines from private medical stores.
About 1500 patients visit OPD on daily basis in the hospital while 25 to 30 deliveries are being performed every day and the daily admission in health facility stands at 30 to 40. The Sobhraj Maternity Hospital urgently require pediatricians, anesthesiologists, nurses, life-saving drugs and up-gradation of nursery to improve patient care. Senior Director Medical and Health Survives, KMC, Dr Abdul Hameed Jumani was not available for comments.