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Jinnah Hospital - Services Provided

Since its time of inception, Jinnah Hospital has maintained its repute of being one of the most advanced health care centers in the Government sector. The Jinnah Hospital provides tertiary health care facilities to patients from all over the country and from all factions of the society. Most of the out of city patients belong to central and southern Punjab. All the road traffic accidents from the M2 motorway are referred here. Because of its strategic location, it is the hospital of choice for most of the newly developed colonies of Lahore covering Allama Iqbal Town, Canal View, Faisal Town, Garden Town, Township and many other areas of the city. According to the folklore, Jinnah Hospital is the most neat and clean hospital in the Government sector.

As most of the patients are of low socio-economic status, the hospital has a wide infrastructure for catering to the needs of the poor. The hospital receives generous amounts of donations each year, allowing free treatment and investigations for many poor patients. There are two areas for the initial checkup points of the patients: the Outpatients department and the Emergency department.

DEPARTMENT OF ACCIDENT & EMERGENCY

As soon as you enter the hospital, you will find the emergency department nosing out at the front. It provides free treatment to an ever-increasing number of people. In year 2004 alone, almost over 175,000 patients were provided case and relief in this department. There are four emergency departments actively working 24 hours a day. These are Medicine, Surgery with Orthopedics and Trauma, Pediatrics and Gynecology. The number of patient turnout in medical emergency on a full sunny routine day is around 100. This value is around 80 in Surgical and 50 in the Gynae & Obs. Emergencies.

There are units on call which include Cardiology, Otolaryngeology (ENT), Intensive Care Unit, Ophthalmology, Plastic Surgery and Urology. There are emergency operation theatres actively managing surgical, orthopedic and gynecological emergencies. Recently upgraded with new expensive medicines for emergency patients, the fully air-conditioned emergency floor provides lots of medicines not available to any other public sector hospital. Streptokinase injections, Octreotide injections, Novapressin injections, Naloxone injections and Activated Charcoal are the most expensive medical items to count a few while orthopedic implants that cost Rupees 5000 each are available for orthopedic emergencies. Such provisions standardize the management of Acute Variceal Bleeding of Hepatitis C patients, patients of poisoning especially organo-phosphorus poisoning, Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack), fracture cases and care of the terminally ill. Available for all and sundry, this equipment shows that medical science has grown bolder and more successful than ever.

There is a busy blood bank working 24 hours a day. It provides free blood donation services to emergency patients on non-donor basis. Working on a give-and-take basis, the blood bank has minimized the chances of getting blood from potential drug abusers.

Investigations form a backbone in modern medicine. There are free investigations services for emergency department. The blood and urine investigations, Electrocardiography, X-Rays and Ultrasonography services are completely free. The CT scan facility is also available in the hospital & for cases of head injury presented in emergency this investigation is provided free of cost.

Out Patient Department

The Outpatients department provides services for checking patients for follow-ups & common and complex ailments. In year 2004, almost over 350,000 patients were catered in OPD. With a nominal amount of Rupees 10, a patient can consult internationally reputed consultants. There are more than 150 competent consultants available in this department. The medical, surgical and gynecological outpatient departments are the busiest with over 200 medical, 90 surgical and 250 gynecological patients checked on a bright sunny day. The complex and serious patients are reviewed by consultants for admission. There are outpatients’ rooms for almost every body system. There are three clinics: a tumor clinic, a diabetic clinic and a rheumatology clinic.

In Patient Department

The wards have admission cases that are serious and complex. Entertaining admissions from outpatients and emergency, most of the wards are peaceful, neat and clean. The number of patients per consultant during a round is usually around 20. This means that adequate amount of individual attention is paid on all patients. In year 2004, over 38,000 patients were catered in various in-patient departments.

There are 4 medical wards. While all the wards are equally equipped for dealing with all sorts of patients, some wards have specialized in particular fields depending upon the tastes of the consultants. Medical I for example is specialized for neoplastic and endocrinology disorders, Medical II for Rheumatology and Pulmonology related problems, Medical III for Gastroenterology and liver disorders and Medical IV for Central Nervous System disorders.

Like the medical floor, there are four surgical wards. Surgical I is specialized for hand and breast surgery, Surgical II for liver & biliary tract surgeries and Surgical III & Surgical IV for laparoscopic surgeries.

The orthopedics ward is the busiest ward in the hospital. With over 50 beds, the ward is most of the times completely filled. There is a Urology ward in which facilities like Renal Transplantation and Lithotripsy are available. There are two Gynecology wards, two otolaryngology wards, a pediatrics ward, an Ophthalmology ward, a dermatology ward, a plastic surgery ward, a psychiatry ward, a TB chest ward and a radiation oncology ward.

JINNAH HOSPITAL - "SARAI"

Walk into any public hospital. Gulab Devi or Mayo or Ganga Ram... you are in danger of tripping over families of patients sleeping in corridors, lawn benches, any available chair or table. In our society, with one patient the whole clan tries to move into the hospital and this is a norm. You cannot ask or order them to leave as you cannot go against the masses, moreover the minute you do so, they start complaining about mistreatment at the hands of the management creating bad will & publicity.

Keeping in view the problem faced by Hospital Staff in functioning and the social & cultural norms of our poor & un-educated section of the country, the management of Jinnah Hospital had a novel idea of making a living area exclusively for the relatives of the patients in 1999. This area called as "SARAI" or "Rest Area" is a completely separate block for residence built on a half a kanal. It has a halls with separate sections for males & females with all facilities for cooking, washing and adjacent toilets to make their stay comfortable. On the average, more than 70 people can be accommodated in one night at the Sarai. Realizing the fact that people coming to Jinnah Hospital belong to the poorest of poor villages and cities, the management charges only Rs. 10 per night which is primarily for registration purpose & monitoring. In case a person is so poor to afford the paltry fee of Rs. 10, the duty incharge has authority to make the accommodation rent free.

The concept of "SARAI" has facilitated the smooth running of the services and has given the hospital a cleaner and better managed appearance.