Government, private hospitals hesitate to open OPDs

The majority of government and private sector hospitals in the federal capital are yet to fully make their outdoor patient departments (OPDs) operational despite directives issued by the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Administration following Supreme Court orders.

Like other parts of the country, the ICT Administration, on March 24, suspended OPD services in both public and private sector hospitals following spread of the coronavirus in the city.

According to a notification issued by the ICT Administration on April 9, keeping in view the difficulties faced by the general public and patients in getting medical assistance, the ban imposed for the closure of OPDs is lifted with immediate effect. However, the hospital management shall strictly abide by notified SOPs.

The city's main hospitals including the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and the Polyclinic Hospital as well as private hospitals have not fully made their OPDs operational. However, some of the private hospitals have opened their OPDs.

Similarly, a circular issued by the PIMS management said that the ICT Administration had issued directives to resume OPD services, after which, the PIMS administration had decided to open the hospice but all precautionary measures would be adopted. "Precautionary measures should be strictly adopted for the safety of patients and healthcare services providers to minimize chances of transmission of the COVID-19 including the establishment of proper "triage system", availability of all necessary personal protection equipments (PPEs), enforcement of effective social distancing as per the WHO protocols and reasonable volume of people are allowed within hospital premises along with one attendant," it added.

Young Doctors Association (YDA) President Dr Fazal told Business Recorder that "We respect orders of the apex court but opening of the OPDs without following the WHO protocol will be a disastrous."

"The management of the hospital need to make necessary arrangements as these protocols are not only necessary for medics but also equally important for the patients before opening the OPDs," he said.

The number of coronavirus cases in the federal capital jumped to 107 on Friday, bringing the country's tally of the COVID-19 infections to 4,601, as per official data.

According to the official data, Punjab has 2,279 cases followed by Sindh 1,128, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 620, Balochistan 219, Gilgit-Baltistan 215, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) 33. Till filling of this report, 727 coronavirus patients have so far recovered, and 66 have died across the country.

Like other parts of the country, majority of the shops in the major markets in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Aabpara, Karachi Company, Peshawar Mor, F-6, F-7, I-8, G-10 Markaz, Commercial Market, Raja Bazaar, Pindora as well as several other smaller markets remained shut for the 18 consecutive days.