No shortage of oxygen in KPK hospital despite increase in numbers of patients

 The major hospitals in KPK has seen 83% increase in oxygen consumption

The pressure is increasing at the hospitals in KPK as the number of patients have increased. The province is witnessing the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Hundreds of corona patients are being treated in the hospitals and most of them needed oxygen. the regular supply of oxygen is essential to save lives in this situation. So far KPK hospitals are doing well to meet the increased demand of oxygen. 

The major hospitals in KPK province have witnessed 83% increase in the consumption of oxygen due to rise in COVID-19 infections in last 10 days. The consumption of oxygen across all eight major hospitals has increased from 40,000 litres to 72,500 litres.

The daily oxygen requirement at Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital has increased by 66%, while the oxygen consumption at Khyber Teaching Hospital has increased from 6,000 litres to 7,500 litres.

Oxygen consumption in Mardan Medical Complex has increased by 23% in the last 12 days. Similarly, the consumption of oxygen in Ayub Teaching Hospital in Abbottabad increased by 66%, while it increased by 89% in Bannu's Khalifa Gul Nawaz Teaching Hospital.

There are concerns about the supply of oxygen in KPK hospitals because seven patients died at the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) as the result of shortage of oxygen in December 2020. The oxygen runs out in the hospital when corona patients were being treated. That tragic incident was result of the negligence of concerned officials.  

On the other hand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Health Secretary Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah told media that there was no shortage of oxygen in the province and every effort was being made to restore the supply.

He said that the oxygen plants in Sindh are supplying the gas to Punjab, therefore, it is feared that if the number of coronavirus cases continue to rise in Sindh, then Punjab will no longer be able to supply oxygen to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as it will have to meet its own demand.

Imtiaz Hussain Shah further said that work has been started to set up an oxygen plant in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [so that it does not have to rely on Punjab anymore], adding that the availability of the gas in all the hospitals of the province is being checked on a daily basis.

He said that a new, 8,000-litre gas tank is being installed in Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital, while gas storage is being gradually increased in different districts of the province, including Charsadda, Mardan, and Nowshera. 

Three of the biggest government hospitals in Peshawar have witnessed a rise in coronavirus patients during the third coronavirus wave, forcing the medical institutions to ramp up their supply of oxygen.

As of Friday, 700 patients were receiving oxygen at the three major hospitals — Lady Reading Hospital, Khyber Teaching Hospital, and Hayatabad Medical Complex.

Hayatabad Medical Complex increases its storage capacity from 10,000 to 23,000 litres of oxygen.

Lady Reading Hospital is using 14,000 litres of oxygen daily in the third wave compared to 8,000 litres each in the first two waves.

The Khyber Teaching Hospital has taken its oxygen storage capacity to 10,000 litres, compared to 5,000 litres in the first two waves.

                                                             Rukhsana Manzoor Deputy Editor


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