LRH emergency dept to treat only critically ill patients

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PESHAWAR(INP): The accident and emergency department of Lady Reading Hospital will provide treatment only to the critically-ill or injured people while people with common ailments will be treated at outpatient department.
The AED would treat people wounded in road accidents or those having medical, surgical and other emergencies free of cost, LRH medical director Prof Mukhtiar Zaman Afridi told a press conference here on Wednesday.
“Serous patients require prompt diagnostic and treatment services. The patients with temperatures etc would be observed for four hours after which they can be discharged or send to relevant ward for admission,” he said. He added that 100 per cent increase in two years showed that cod patents ate up resources meant for people needing urgent treatment.
Prof Mukhtiar said that AED services had almost come down to a breaking point because it received 374 patients per hour, majority of whom could be treated at OPD and.
He said that the decision would reduce workload on staffers deployed at AED and they would focus on patients with pain, injuries etc.
Prof Mukhtiar said that LRH was providing services of free ultrasound, X-ray and common tests to serious patients but complaints were received about shortage of medicines and services owing to unnecessary arrival of people with common illnesses.
“Only genuine patients will be taken at AED and the walking patients will be directed to OPD where consultants sit till 4:30pm. “AED received 762,000 patients in 2013 and 1.4 million in 2015. The 100 per cent increase in two years shows how the services were affected,” he said. Only six per cent of them required emergency care, he added.