CHARSADDA: Lack of required facilities and shortage of medical staff at the tehsil headquarter hospital, Tangi is forcing patients to seek treatment at private clinics at high cost.

Patients fromTangi, north Hashtnagar and adjoining Mirajat coming to the hospital to seek treatment, are forced to go elsewhere as the hospital has no primary heath care facilities.

Built in 1988, the hospital has only five medical officers against 12 allocated posts, and has only one ambulance out of three which are rusting out for want of repair. Interestingly, one non-functional ambulance is being used as a mechanics shop, officials told Dawn on condition of anonymity. They said that absence of specialist doctors at the hospital is depriving population of proper treatment, forcing them to seek treatment either at the DHQ hospital, Charsadda or hospitals in Peshawar.

Cleanliness condition at the Tangi tehsil hospital is also pathetic and foul smell in wards is causing patients discomfort. The officials said provincial health minister Shaukat Yousafzai had visited the hospital some three months back and announced a grant of Rs3 million for the facility, but the amount is yet to be released.

They said the minister had also promised to provide the required staff to the hospital, but that promise, too, was not realised.

The officials said that women were the worst sufferers as there was no gynecologist at the hospital. `In delivery cases pregnant women are shifted either to DHQ hospital or to Peshawar. `Sometimes, patients die on way to hospitals due to excessive bleeding or other complications,` they added. They said that the dilapidated condition of under-construction Tangi-Charsadda road further aggravated the situation.

The officials demanded appointment of gynae, ENT, skin and eye specialists at the hospital. The local residents said that the hospital also had no gas connection despite the fact that main gas line passed near the facility.

Tangi hospital`s medical superintendent Iftikhar Ahmed told Dawn that he had repeatedly requested the secretary health and other concerned authorities to provide required medical staff to the hospital, but to no avail. He said the grant promised by the health minister was also not released despite his repeated requests to the concerned authorities.

Meanwhile, chairman of a welfare organisation Siraj Mohammad and others demanded of the health minister and provincial government to provide doctors and other facilities to the only hospital in this far flung and backward area of Charsadda.