Vacant posts of specialist doctors yet to be filled

CHITRAL: There are a number of vacant posts of specialist doctors at the District Headquarters Hospital Chitral due to which patients and their relatives have to undergo lots of troubles and financial constraints.

As there are no other hospitals even in the private sector to cater to major cases in the whole valley, patients are referred to Peshawar, Islamabad and Karachi for the treatment of complicated cases.

Despite repeated complaints and appeals by the residents, the provincial government has failed to filled the vacant posts of specialist doctors at the DHQ hospital.

One of the major cases increasing in Chitral is mouth and throat cancer for which there is no surgeon in the district. A few months ago, an ENT surgeon was posted to the hospital but he managed to get himself transferred out of the district.

Local people said that unavailability of specialist doctors at the hospital was a major issue and the government was yet to resolve it to facilitate the patients.