Proposed bifurcation of Liaquat University Hospital faces resistance

HYDERABAD: Former director general of Health Services Sindh and former medical superintendent of Liaquat University Hospital (LUH), Dr Hadi Bux Jatoi, has opposed a proposal by the Sindh health department to separate the hospital’s City and Jamshoro branches, calling the move harmful and impractical.

Speaking at a press conference at the Hyderabad Press Club on Wednesday, Dr Jatoi said Hyderabad required another hospital on the scale of LUH rather than a division of the existing institution. He described the proposed separation as illogical and said LUH, one of Sindh’s oldest teaching hospitals, should remain intact because splitting it would undermine the purpose for which it was established.

He said emergency patients were first received at the LUH City branch and were then moved to the Jamshoro branch, arguing that this arrangement reflected the connected functioning of the two facilities.

Dr Jatoi said the Rajputana Charitable Hospital had been left unused and could be utilised for establishing a new hospital. Otherwise, he warned, it could fall prey to interested quarters.

Referring to the burden on patients, he said many people were unable to seek costly treatment in Karachi because they could not bear the expenses involved. He said LUH could function effectively if the health department ensured better administration.

Dr Jatoi also referred to a recent incident in which, he said, some unconcerned individuals entered a ward and a woman began raising a hue and cry. He said such episodes were regrettable at LUH.

He further said that due to a shortage of resources, several newborns were being kept on a single bed in the paediatric ward. He alleged that a system existed within the health department under which positions were sold for millions. He said this had happened in the past as well, adding that he had previously served both as head of LUH and as DG Health Services Sindh before retiring.

Board meeting and earlier discussion

According to Dr Jatoi, the proposal to separate LUH was discussed at a meeting of the hospital’s Health Management Board held last Friday, but the board’s decision had not yet been made public.

He also said there had once been checks and balances on professors working under the university administration, but that no such mechanism existed now.

Dr Jatoi said the proposal had also come under discussion by Faisal Gabol, adviser to the Sindh government on health, but the idea was later dropped. He maintained that any move to split the hospital would go against the public interest and said he and others sharing his view would resist it.

In addition to the hospital issue, Dr Jatoi said Hyderabad also needed land for graveyards, stating that existing burial grounds no longer had capacity for more burials.