Encroachments around JPMC and NICVD hamper ambulance movement

KARACHI: Encroachment and illegal parking around the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and two other major hospitals of Karachi are not only hampering the movement of ambulances carrying patients with emergency requirements but also causing inconvenience to the visitors and the hospital staff.

The staff of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases(NICVD), and National Institute of Child Health (NICH) is facing great difficulty due to the traffic jam outside the hospitals in the morning and evening hours.

The illegal parking of ambulances and encroachments around these hospitals are causing a serious nuisance to the visiting patients, their attendants, and the medical staff.

An official at the JPMC said that some private rescue organizations had established ambulance counters outside the boundary wall of the JPMC. The encroachments cause constant road blockages during rush hours, and it has also become very difficult for the ambulance drivers to shift patients to these hospitals.

Similarly, rickshaws and taxi drivers have also established their permanent stands around the hospitals with the nexus of traffic police officials. The visitors and medical staff have been facing problems due to constant road blockages and encroachments outside the hospitals.