Peshawar hospital ‘charges attendants’ for using lavatories

PESHAWAR: Attendants of patients admitted at Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) in the city protested Tuesday against the facility’s administration for charging them money on using the lavatories.

A protester told Geo News they used a toilet in the gynaecology ward of the hospital but the person in charge there would charge them Rs10 each time.

When asked the incharge said they were directed by the deputy medical superintendent of the hospital to charge the attendants money for using the lavatory.

According to the protesters, it was unfair on people if they were being charged for something as basic as using the bathroom, that too at one the province’s largest hospitals. They added that hospitals and the facilities in them are for the public.

While protesting outside the hospital building, the protesters shouted slogans against the administration.

The security personnel deployed at the hospital also snatch the phone of Geo News’ reporting on covering the protest.

However, the administration of the hospital was not available when approached for comments.

LRH is a tertiary care hospital in Peshawar, where people from across KP come for treatment from various ailments. However, issues within the administration or hospital structure has resulted in many complaints surfacing against the facility – also raising question on the quality of health care being provided to patients admitted there.

In July 2017, a case surfaced of rainwater dripping from the ceiling of an operation theatre at the same hospital, LRH.

The medical director of the facility has said The instances of rainwater seeping in the hospital have taken place in the past as well.

Prior to that, report surfaced of X-ray machines at the hospital going out of order, causing inconvenience to patients who had to then get the examination done at other private facilities, which was heavy on their pockets.