Sobhraj Maternity Hospital faces an acute shortage of anesthesiologists

KARACHI: The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s oldest maternity hospital, known as Sobhraj Maternity Hospital (SMH), has been facing an acute shortage of anesthesiologists since the past year and the hospital’s administration has been unable to run the Operation Theater (OT) round the clock, noted sources at the SMH.

The KMC-run hospital situated in the Urdu Bazaar area of Karachi has been facing an acute short of staff as there are no anesthesiologists available in the healthcare institution during the evening and night shifts. The shortage of anesthesiologists has put the hospital’s management in trouble in running its OT services round the clock.

Sources said presently, there is only one anesthesiologist available in the maternity hospital in the morning shift. The hospital’s administration is struggling to cater to emergency patients in the evening and night shifts. Furthermore, the administration had hired a private anesthesiologist for evening and night shifts to run the OT services.

The Pediatric Unit of the Sobhraj Hospital has also been closed due to the shortage of pediatricians. The nursery of the hospital is in a deplorable state. Newborn babies are being shifted to nearby hospitals due to the lack of ventilators and other facilities.

Posts of doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff are also lying vacant, and no new hiring has been done for the past ten years.

About 2,500 patients visit the hospital’s OPDs daily in the hospital, while 25 to 30 deliveries are performed every day. 30 to 40 patients are admitted to the health facility every day as well.

The Sobhraj Maternity Hospital urgently requires pediatricians, anesthesiologists, nurses, and up-gradation of its nursery to improve patient care.

Senior Director, Medical & Health Survives, KMC, Dr Birbal Gennani, was not available to make any comments.

-MN Report