RAWALPINDI – It has become really very difficult for poor patients suffering from liver or stomach disorder to get themselves examined at Liver and Stomach Clinic of Holy Family Hospital (HFH), however if one does not have strong links with the employees of the hospital or some doctors then one will have to return back to home without getting medical treatment after passing through a lengthy period of humiliation.
In Liver and Stomach Clinic of HFH, hundreds of poor patients including old people, young children and girls, coming from far-flung areas, facing a lot of problem due to indiscriminatory attitude of staff of the clinic, headed by Principal and Professor of Medicines at Rawalpindi Medical College (RMC) and Gastrologist Dr Muhammad Umer.
Dr Umer sits once in a week on Friday in OPD and sees patients in Liver and Stomach Clinic, which according to patients, is not enough. They demanded of the government to hold the OPD thrice a week.
The patients, who came early in the morning on Friday and lined up before the Liver and Stomach Clinic at HFH OPD after getting OPD tickets, have to wait for hours as the hospital employees and doctors managed to get in their near and dear ones breaching the long queues of poor patients.
Nadia Bibi, who arrived from Pirwadhai early in the morning, was shouting on the staff who were sending their patients first violating the rules and regulation. She told TheNation she had been waiting for her turn since 9am and now the clock was striking 11:30am but so far she was not sent inside for medical treatment. She said she had problem in her stomach and had not enough money to show herself to private doctors. She appealed to the authorities concerned to take notice of this injustice. Riasat Hussain, an old man suffering from Hepatitis C, said that he was facing problems in medical treatment because of the staff of the hospital. He said that his token number was 99 but an employee went inside with his patient having token number 112.
A ward boy of the hospital, who hid his official card while seeing this scribe, was quarreling with an elder woman, whose crime was only that she barred him from violating the long queue of patients to get checked his patient first.
Meanwhile, a large number of the patients appealed to the Punjab Health Department to organize Live and Stomach OPD thrice in a week so that the poor patients could get proper medical treatment.
Despite repeated attempts, the MS was not available for comments.