Polyclinic lacks sufficient medicine
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Government Services Hospital, also known as the Polyclinic, is considered to be facilitating the poor patients of the capital and its surrounding areas but the current situation there is that the hospital lacks sufficient medicine for its patients.
On the other hand, the staff, instead of facilitating the patients, is not cooperating with the patients and their attendants, The Spokesman has learnt. Abdullah, a patient admitted in the Polyclinic for a minor surgery, told The Spokesman that the doctor advised him some medicines after his surgery, which were supposed to be available in the dispensary but the dispenser provided only half of them.
“The dispenser told my brother that the remaining four medicines were not available and could be purchased from any private medicine shop outside the hospital,” he said. Haji Shafiq, whose daughter is admitted in the hospital for a maternity case, said that it has become a trend in the hospital that the staff sends back the patients without giving them proper medicine.
“It has been three to four times since last week when the staff gave me only few of the medicines mentioned in the prescription as they said the dispensary is suffering from shorts of medicines and I had to buy the remaining medicines from a private medicine shop which turned expensive for me,” he said.
A doctor on duty while requesting anonymity said that the situation occur due to lack of planning of the hospital management as neither the concerned staff inform the authorities about the shortage of the medicine nor the administration pay concern over the issue. He said the situation also irks the doctors as well when the patients turn to them with complaints.
“The patients turn back to us by complaining that the medicines we advised them in the prescription are not available in the hospital so we should advise them any other alternate medicine, but most of the time the alternative medicine is also not available which off course disturb the patients as well as the us,” the doctor said.
Karimuddin told The Spokesman that he visited the hospital dispensary to get some medicine for his younger brother with a prescription of the concerned doctors, but the dispensary staff refused to give him medicine by telling that he must have a signature of the same doctor on the prescription who advised him the medicine.
“The doctor advised the medicine on the official latter pad of the hospital where name of the doctor was also mentioned but still the staff told me that I must have a signature of the doctor on the prescription otherwise they will not provide me the medicine,” he said. When he turned back to the doctor to get his signature, he was out of his office, so he bought the medicine from a private store in Blue Area, he said.
Ali Ahmad, a lecturer in a private college, said that he also suffered the same situation and followed a notice displayed in front of the dispensary mentioning the doctors to be contacted in either emergency or for complaints, but all in vain as he could not meet the doctors. “It was mentioned in the notice that the patients having complaints should contact the in-charge of the dispensary in room-31, but when I approached there, his room was locked,” he said.
Disagreeing with the situation, Dr Shairf Astori, spokesperson of the hospital, said that shortage of the medicine was not only for Islamabad but in all over the country, however Polyclinic was the only hospital which provides 80% medicines to its patients as compare to other government hospitals of the capital. Although the hospital have 1200 to 1000 medicines in its formulary and all are available currently. “Only those medicines are not available which the doctors advise out of the formulary,” he said.
On the other hand, the staff, instead of facilitating the patients, is not cooperating with the patients and their attendants, The Spokesman has learnt. Abdullah, a patient admitted in the Polyclinic for a minor surgery, told The Spokesman that the doctor advised him some medicines after his surgery, which were supposed to be available in the dispensary but the dispenser provided only half of them.
“The dispenser told my brother that the remaining four medicines were not available and could be purchased from any private medicine shop outside the hospital,” he said. Haji Shafiq, whose daughter is admitted in the hospital for a maternity case, said that it has become a trend in the hospital that the staff sends back the patients without giving them proper medicine.
“It has been three to four times since last week when the staff gave me only few of the medicines mentioned in the prescription as they said the dispensary is suffering from shorts of medicines and I had to buy the remaining medicines from a private medicine shop which turned expensive for me,” he said.
A doctor on duty while requesting anonymity said that the situation occur due to lack of planning of the hospital management as neither the concerned staff inform the authorities about the shortage of the medicine nor the administration pay concern over the issue. He said the situation also irks the doctors as well when the patients turn to them with complaints.
“The patients turn back to us by complaining that the medicines we advised them in the prescription are not available in the hospital so we should advise them any other alternate medicine, but most of the time the alternative medicine is also not available which off course disturb the patients as well as the us,” the doctor said.
Karimuddin told The Spokesman that he visited the hospital dispensary to get some medicine for his younger brother with a prescription of the concerned doctors, but the dispensary staff refused to give him medicine by telling that he must have a signature of the same doctor on the prescription who advised him the medicine.
“The doctor advised the medicine on the official latter pad of the hospital where name of the doctor was also mentioned but still the staff told me that I must have a signature of the doctor on the prescription otherwise they will not provide me the medicine,” he said. When he turned back to the doctor to get his signature, he was out of his office, so he bought the medicine from a private store in Blue Area, he said.
Ali Ahmad, a lecturer in a private college, said that he also suffered the same situation and followed a notice displayed in front of the dispensary mentioning the doctors to be contacted in either emergency or for complaints, but all in vain as he could not meet the doctors. “It was mentioned in the notice that the patients having complaints should contact the in-charge of the dispensary in room-31, but when I approached there, his room was locked,” he said.
Disagreeing with the situation, Dr Shairf Astori, spokesperson of the hospital, said that shortage of the medicine was not only for Islamabad but in all over the country, however Polyclinic was the only hospital which provides 80% medicines to its patients as compare to other government hospitals of the capital. Although the hospital have 1200 to 1000 medicines in its formulary and all are available currently. “Only those medicines are not available which the doctors advise out of the formulary,” he said.
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