FAISALABAD: Faisalabad District Headquarters Hospital`s six-bed kidney centre has no nephrologist and urologist. It is functional in a 100-bed building, which was designed to house orthopedic and surgery wards as well.

Three months after its inauguration, 94 beds of the building are still useless.

There is neither an outpatient department nor any operation theatre at the centre which was inaugurated by Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah in Maylast.

The centre has six machines where the dialysis of the patients having no Hepatitis B and C is being conducted by medical officers, nurses and technicians.

When the centre opened, Dr Irfan Rasool was working as nephrologist. He was transferred from the DHQ Hospital to the Allied Hospital on May 15. Since then, there has been no specialised doctor at the centre.

Before the commencement of the centre, sources said, the dialysis of Hepatitis B and C patients was being done at the nephrology ward of the DHQ Hospital. Nowthis facility has been withdrawn, they added.

Those suffering from hepatitis are referred to the Allied Hospital.

The centre works in morning and evening shifts and no patient is admitted to the centre at night.

First and second storeys are locked which were constructed for orthopedic and surgery wards.

Space is main issue in the hospital.

District Coordination Officer Noorul Ameen Mengal visited the building on Nov 19, 2013, and announced converting it into a kidney centre. The building was constructed at a cost of Rs68.7 million.Former medical superintendent of the hospital Dr Arif All once told Dawn that 33 beds each were allocated for orthopedic, surgery and allied services and urology in the building. Later on, the building was marl
Sources said nothing had been done in this regard.

DHQ Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Abdul Rauf told Dawn that owing to shortageof staff only six machines were working in the centre and a PC-I had been sent to the government for the staf f, funds and other basic things.

He said the Punjab government had allocated Rs80 million for the centre.

When asl
He said the building would be allocated for nephrology and urology diseases as the case was pending with the government for approval.