Maternity Hospital’s services remain below standard: Herat residents

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): A number of visitors and patients in the maternity hospital of western Herat province have complained about the lack of proper and timely health services and said that their patients not provided treatment when necessary.

Saleh Mohammad, the resident of Herat’s Maslakh area, brought his wife to the hospital for delivery, told Pajhwok that doctors did not take care of his wife and claimed that doctors perform their duties based on relationships.

Zahra Raufi, a visitor who brought her patient to the maternity hospital for treatment, also complained against the unfair behavior of officials and personnel of the hospital.

She complained against the non-availability of waiting rooms and added patients had to wait outside during severe pain when they are very close to give birth.

“Our patient was in a very bad condition, when we went to the hospital, there was no one to answer us, We didn’t understand what to do. After hours, we found a doctor. There is no standard waiting room. Patients should wait there until the delivery time,” she said.

This is not only the family of Zahra and Saleh Mohammad who complained against the harsh behavior of doctors at the maternity hospital but some other residents of Herat also complained against the lack of health services in the hospital.

Hospital officials, however, acknowledged that due to the shortage of personnel they were unable to entertain patients.

Dr. Saeeda Saeed, deputy director of the Herat Maternity Hospital, told Pajhwok Afghan News that efforts were on to complete the human resource strength of the hospital and get public satisfaction regarding their performance.

She, however, said she will never work on the will of the patient but will only ensure to address the problem of the patient.

She added in the future the hospital would be promoted to 150 beds from its current strength of 100 beds.

She said the lack of public awareness of the rules in the hospital is one of the biggest problems in their work, and people are asked to inform themselves about the rules of the hospital and follow all the regulations so that they don’t face any problems.

Melina Heidari, one of the gynecologists, said that the patient needed complete peace and sympathy during childbirth, therefore, a safe place and a necessary resting place should be prepared for her.

He stated that the current waiting room of Women’s Maternity Hospital is not a standard, and this hospital is also facing a shortage of staff and beds, and there is a need to take serious measures to provide better services and reach the patients.

According to the statistics of Herat Maternity Hospital, in the past month, at least 2,500 births were performed in this hospital and 500 caesarean sections were recorded.

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