Public hospitals face bed, staff crisis in Karachi

KARACHI:

Due to its advanced treatment facilities, Karachi is known to attract patients from across Sindh and Balochistan. However, with only 6,500 beds, 250 ventilators and a shortage of doctors and medical staff, major hospitals in the city are ill-equipped to handle even the local influx of patients.

Sadia Khatun, who came to the Jinnah Hospital for her husband's gallbladder surgery, was told by the staff that no bed was available. “I struggled tirelessly to secure a bed for my husband but was unsuccessful. For two weeks, I went to the Jinnah Hospital for my husband's admission but could not find a bed. Poor patients have to wait endlessly for admission at government hospitals, due to which they have to face severe difficulties in getting treatment,” regretted Sadia, who eventually ha