PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is establishing the geriatric and dementia ward at the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) to provide physical and psychiatric treatment to the elderly people on the pattern of fountain houses.

This was stated by KTH acting medical director Prof Nadeem Khawar during a briefing to PTI MNA Prof Yasmin Rashid, who visited the hospital on Thursday. The facility will be made functional on an abandoned building made originally for the patients` relatives a decade ago, he said.He said that the 16-bed ward would be established after renovation of the building while the plan for recruitment of staff, etc was being devised in collaboration with the social welfare department. He also gave a presentation regarding computerisation of the patient data, improvement of diagnostic services and establishment of hospital pharmacy to improve the patient care in line with the KP Medical Teaching Institutions Reform Act, 2015.

Prof Nadeem said the geriatric and dementia ward, first of its kind in the country, would benefit people suffering from loss of memory and physical problems.

Prof Syed Mohammad Sultan, head of the psychiatry ward, said that the move was aimed at helping the aged people who often required assistance for rehabilitation. He said that the people suffered frommany problems, especially Alzheimer`s disease and they even couldn`t remember names of close relatives.

He added that people couldn`t perform prayers in old age and become burden on families due to multiple medical and psychiatric disorders for which they required medical as well as social assistance.

He said that due to lack of support at the community level the oldest lot also experienced a great deal of personality deterioration at being abandoned for which they required hospitalisation and treatment.

Prof Sultan said that the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan had approved a sub-specialty in psychiatry for trainee medical officers in old psychiatric disorders on the request of the Pakistan Psychiatric Society in view of the growing number of agedpeople. He said that there was also a plan to set up memory clinics at the level of district headquarters hospitals at alaterstage.

Prof Mohammad Humayun, head department of medicine, said that treatment of the old age-specific diseases and their management needed physiotherapists and both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions to improve their health conditions. The project would be forwarded to the KTH board of governors for the upcoming meeting.

Accompanied by Punjab PTI information secretary Andleeb Abbas, Prof Yasmin said that Imran Khan would inaugurate the computerisation of the newly-established Quality Assurance Department at the hospital. She asked the health workers to serve the patients to the best of their abilities.