More than three-fifth of 150 dispensaries monitored in 89 districts in March were found to be without syringes, cutters, sterilisers and medicines, a report compiled by Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) said here on Wednesday. The report said that in-house pharmacies of 19 dispensaries had been completely out of medicines, with 12 having had no supplies for less than a year and seven without medicines for over 12 months.
As many as 12 dispensaries were not giving out free medicines to patients. According to the report, 70 dispensaries had no washrooms with running water for patients, while 62 were without clean drinking water. Fifty-one health facilities were housed in dilapidated buildings and another 46 had no boundary walls, it said.
On the positive side, more than three-fourths of the dispensaries were clean, had electricity connections, fans and a proper waiting areas/shades for patients. To have patients' views on the quality of services being provided, Fafen observers interviewed three out-patients at each dispensary, 11% of whom said they were not getting free medicines, while 7% felt they were overcharged.
Sixteen percent of patients complained that doctors were not on duty, but of those who did get to see the doctors, 16% expressed dissatisfaction over the amount of time given to them. Nine percent patients complained about the unavailability of support staff, whereas 10% said the staff was not supportive. Furthermore, 11% of the interviewed patients were not happy with the overall behaviour of doctors, while 12% thought the support staff was rude.
The report said only 68 visits were made by government/ elected representatives to 150 dispensaries during December 2011-February 2012 period. An MNA made a surprise visit to a health facility in Punjab, while an MPA made a general visit to one dispensary in Sindh. Thirty-three visits were made by other government officials to the monitored dispensaries, while 32 were made by Executive District Officers (EDO/Health).