All three tertiary public hospitals in Rawalpindi are facing a precarious situation concerning the provision of free medicines to patients, as they have not been fully paid the demanded budget for 2025/26, it has been learnt. Background discussions with officials from Holy Family Hospital (HFH), Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH), and Rawalpindi Teaching Hospital (RTH), formerly District Headquarter Hospital, revealed that the hospitals are struggling to pay vendors and distributors for medicines already purchased for the current fiscal year.
Budget Shortfall
The three hospitals had requested Rs4.5 billion to arrange free medicines for all outdoor, indoor, admitted, and emergency patients. However, the Punjab government disbursed only Rs1.18 billion to the hospitals for the current fiscal year, an official said. He added that the three allied hospitals cater to patients across all categories and medical conditions. In contrast, the government provided Rs1 billion for free medicines to Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology, which deals exclusively with cardiac patients.
Impact of Inflation
Another official from RTH noted that rising inflation and increased medicine prices have put extra pressure on the already limited budget. He highlighted that the government had also stopped the health card facility for patients, leaving all patients dependent on free medicines. The availability of free medicines might have contributed to an increase in the number of patients visiting public hospitals.
A vendor, who has been distributing medicines to hospitals for over five decades, remarked that he had never faced a situation where government hospitals were struggling to pay for medicines. He noted that no complete tertiary-level hospital has been added to the garrison city in a long time, increasing pressure on the three existing hospitals.
Hospital Capacities
HFH has a capacity of around 3,000 beds and receives approximately 5,000 outpatients and 2,500 emergency patients daily. Similarly, BBH has a capacity of 1,000 beds with 3,000 outpatients and 1,500 emergency patients daily. RTH has 560 beds, and the number of outpatients and emergency patients is ever increasing.
A query was sent to Dr. Muhammad Umer, Vice Chancellor of Rawalpindi Medical University, who oversees the hospitals, to respond to the funds shortage issue. However, the VC did not respond by the time of filing this story. An RMU official stated that the matter had already been brought to the attention of the Punjab health minister.
