RAWALPINDI: Due to the shortage of beds, about 140 patients are crammed into the 45 beds of the gynaecology ward at the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital.

In the thickly-populated Raja Bazaar, the only government hospital accommodates women from the downtown and adjoining areas. But due to the lack of facilities, two women have to share one bed.

`I came from Rawat but as there was no bed available I have to share the bed with another woman who gave birth to a baby girl last night,` said Shukria Bibi.

She said she also had to purchase all medicines from outside as the hospital did not provide free medicines to the patients.

Mohammad Tariq, a resident of Ratta Amral, said he brought his wife to the hospital last night but there was no bed available.

The doctors suggested that the patient should share a bed with another woman.

`When I objected, the doctors asked me to go to any private clinic as in governmenthospitals patients have to share beds.

He said people who could not afford fees of private healthcare facilities came to government hospitals but it was strange that there were no medicines and pathological laboratories.

`Doctors say multi-vitamin and other medicines are not available in the medical store of the hospital as the hospital provides only life-saving drugs to the patients,` said Sakina Bibi, a resident of Akalgarh.

She said her daughter-in-law was admitted to the hospital. `Doctors gave us a list of medicines before conducting a surgery and asked us to also arrange blood,` she said.

A senior doctor at the hospital told Dawn that government hospitals needed improvement, especially in the gynaecology ward, as more than 200 pregnant women visited the healthcare facility daily.

Due to the shortage of space, most of the patients are referred to Benazir Bhutto Hospital and the Holy Family Hospital or private clinics.

He said there was also a need to increase the number of beds in the gynae ward or establish more hospitals for women and children.

`Had the government completed work on the Mother and Child Hospital at Asghar Mall, the rush in government hospitals would have ended,` he said.

Two projects to establish mother and child hospitals remain incomplete for eight years.When contacted, PTI MPA Arif Abbasi said the provincial government made tall claims about improving the health and education sectors but preferred launching road projects allegedly to collectkickbacks.

He said the government failed to complete the 400-bed mother and child hospital in his constituency even after eight years but spent Rs50 million on development works proposed by each of the PML-N candidates who lost the elections.

But PML-N leader and former MNA Malik Shakil Awan said the government was working to improve the condition of hospitals.

`The Punjab government has allocated Rs20 million for the improvement of the gynae ward at the DHQ hospital. The government also allocated Rs50 million in each constituency for development projects. In NA-55, there is a dire need to improve the sector and I have recommended improving the gynae ward in the hospital,` he said.

DHQ Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Khalid Randhawa said the shortage of beds forced the hospital administration to accommodate more than 100 women in the 45-bed ward.

He said there was a need to construct a new building for the gynae and medical wards and the emergency department.

`There is also a need to increase the number of beds to 70 at the emergency department and the hospital administration is working on it,` he said.