D.I. Khan District Women’s Hospital Faces Severe Shortages, Patients Demand Improvements

Nisar Betani

In Dera Ismail Khan, a city with special status in the southern districts, the sole district women’s hospital is currently facing significant deficiencies in its facilities. Conditions in the nursery ward for children and women are substandard, and there is a lack of proper seating arrangements for women accompanying expectant mothers.

A concerned visitor, who preferred to remain anonymous, shared her distressing experience at the district women’s hospital. She revealed that she spent two agonizing days with her pregnant daughter-in-law in the Gynae (Nursery) Ward, where two women and their newborns uncomfortably shared a single bed. She emphasized that the condition of the wards, including the nursery, is deplorable. The limited space for maternity patients results in two women being placed on a single bed.

Numerous other women and their families echoed these concerns, lamenting the inadequate facilities at the women’s hospital and directing their frustration toward the government and hospital administration.

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Sabir Khan, attending to a female relative at the hospital, criticized the women’s hospital, which receives substantial government funding, for its poor facilities. He described instances where there were insufficient beds for children in the ward, forcing four women and children to share each bed. Furthermore, there were no suitable arrangements for the women accompanying the patients, who had to endure discomfort while waiting. There were also no proper shelters or seating arrangements for husbands and relatives outside the ward, leaving them exposed to the elements.

When questioned about these issues, the hospital administration received mixed responses. Some officials issued apologies, while the doctor in charge of the nursery ward was conspicuously absent from the scene. However, it was revealed that the women’s hospital’s building is quite old and struggles to handle the heavy load of female maternity patients.

As the primary women’s hospital in the region, it caters to patients from various areas, including Tank District, South Waziristan, Sub-division Jandola, and Darazinda, in addition to Dera Ismail Khan city. Due to its limited capacity and a shortage of beds, managing female patients has become increasingly challenging.

Women seeking treatment at this hospital and their families have called upon the government to either expand the District Women’s Hospital or construct a new, modern maternity hospital. This would ensure that female patients receive adequate care, maintain a manageable patient load, and enjoy access to essential facilities.