RAWALPINDI - The absence of senior doctors including head of the department at Paediatric Outdoor Patients Department (OPD) of Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) has put the lives of tens of hundreds of child patients, suffering with dehydration, diarrhoea, fever, loose motions, vomiting and many other abdominal diseases in danger.
As the heat spell is continuing in the city, a large number of child patients and infants are being taken to paediatric OPD by their parents across the division mostly with complaints of dehydration (Owing to diarrhoea) but no senior doctor is present in his room/office to examine the poor child patients.
Besides absence of senior doctors, the missing facilities of cool and potable drinking water and dysfunctional centrally air-condition system in OPD are the other problems being faced by the visitors.
The parents leashed out at sloppiness of Rawalpindi Medical College (RMC) principal and Allied Hospitals (AHs) chief and medical superintendent (MS) BBH and demanded Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif and secretary health Punjab to take notice of the worried situation in the city's largest hospital.
The mothers and fathers of child patients, who were burning in sizzling heat, placed a pile of complaints against the mismanagement and absence of senior doctors before this scribe during a visit of Paediatric OPD on Monday.
Head of Paediatric Department/Child Specialist Associate Prof Dr Rai Muhammad Asghar, Assistant Prof/Child Specialist Dr Muhammad Zahoor-ul-Haq, Senior Registrar/Child Specialist Dr Najaf Masood and Child Specialist Dr Mudasir Sharif Bhatti were absent from Paediatric OPD despite of their duties while their offices were locked, it was observed.
Their office boys were also found misguiding the visitors.
A large number of parents returned with distressed faces after seeing the rooms/offices of senior doctors locked. However, two postgraduate trainees (PGTs) Dr Bilal and Dr Ali seemed helpless in meeting the influx of child patients.
RMC Principal Prof Dr Muhammad Umar, when contacted and told all the saga and apathies of seniors, simply replied, "I will look into the matter and contact you."