Freezing cold winds in Karachi have left patients undergoing treatment in public hospitals and their attendants facing severe hardships. No shelters have been constructed by the department, and in many government hospital buildings where patients are admitted, windows and doors are damaged.
In Karachi and across interior Sindh, no shelter homes have been established in any public hospital to protect people from the cold. As a result, patients’ family members are spending nights in extreme distress on hospital footpaths under the open sky, including women.
Hospital administrations say shelters have not been set up because, at night, unrelated individuals also look for places to sleep, leading to incidents of theft of attendants’ belongings. Due to the severe cold weather, families of patients are bringing quilts and blankets from home, while attendants are facing extreme difficulties in this harsh winter.
Ashiq Bhutto, an attendant of a patient who came from interior Sindh, said he has been in Karachi for a week from Sanghar for his brother’s treatment at Jinnah Hospital. After getting his brother examined in the OPD, he was admitted. His brother is to undergo gallbladder surgery, and it has been about five days, but the surgery date keeps being given and postponed.
He said Karachi is experiencing severe cold, and as evening sets in, cold winds start blowing. Due to the absence of shelter homes for attendants in hospitals, nights are spent in extreme cold. He added that no one seems to care about the problems of poor people.
He further said they spend nights under the open sky in cold winds and are compelled to seek treatment at government hospitals due to their circumstances.
Dost Memon, the father of a heart patient at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, said he brought his young son from Thatta for treatment, where doctors advised immediate surgery after examination in the emergency ward.
He said that even at the cardiac hospital, attendants spend nights on footpaths, and each attendant arranges bedding for themselves.
He added that some people use pieces of cardboard as mattresses and sacks as blankets because they cannot afford to buy bedding.
A spokesperson for Jinnah Hospital said the administration tries to address the problems of patients’ attendants and that a temporary shelter has been set up for female attendants. More shelters are not established because their unnecessary use begins.
MS of Civil Hospital, Dr Khalid Bukhari, said there is no permanent shelter home for attendants in the hospital. Temporary canopies have been set up at several places, and the hospital faces a heavy rush of patients. The administration tries, with the support of welfare organizations, to take care of attendants.
Health department officials said there is a lack of facilities for attendants in public hospitals, but efforts are being made in coordination with hospital administrations and welfare organizations to resolve their issues.
