SHANGLA : The residents of Bisham tehsil of Shangla have demanded upgradation of the tehsil headquarters hospital to category C.
The demand was made by the area elders while talking to reporters during a visit to the hospital. They said the tehsil headquarters hospital was upgraded to type C over two decades ago, but the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s previous government degraded it to type D again.
They said due to downgrading of the health facility many doctors, paramedics and other officials had either been transferred to the district headquarters hospital, Alpuri, or to the newlyupgraded tehsil headquarters hospital, Puran. Haji Ameen, a notable, said patients from Allai tehsil of Battagram and all three districts of Kohistan visited the Bisham hospital for availing treatment facility, while over 500 patients daily came to the outpatient department.
He criticised the government’s decision to degrade the hospital.
“Local residents are looking forward to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai that he would take up the issue with the government,” he said.
Najeebullah, another elder, said they had expectations from the current government that it would sort out the basic issues of Shangla on a priority basis. He said the government should upgrade the hospital to type C and appoint required staff so that locals as well as people from neighbouring Kohistan and Battagram districts could avail healthcare facilities.
Guldad Khan, a village nazim, said the THQ hospital had more OPD patients than the DHQ hospital because it served fi ve districts, so the government should immediately order its upgradation with provision of required facilities.
He said due to lack of facilities and specialist doctors a high number of patients had to go to private hospitals in Swat and Abbottabad at the cost of time and money.
“We even have no facility of a miner operation and in case of emergencies the doctors refer patients and injured to other districts.
Serious patients often die on the way,” the nazim regretted.
Information minister Shaukat Ali Yousafzai was not available for his version as he is out of the country on an offi cial trip.
