Medical Centres Closed, Staff Relieved, and Facilities Converted to Residences
RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Post has begun shutting down its dispensaries and medical centres in Rawalpindi, citing severe financial constraints and prolonged shortages of medicines and medical equipment.
For years, the supply of essential medicines, test kits, and X-ray facilities had been halted, effectively paralyzing operations. Officials confirmed that boards overseeing the medical centres have been dissolved, while doctors, technicians, and other staff have been discharged.
“The cupboards, emergency ward beds, and equipment have been reduced to junk and stored away. Even the name board of the medical centre has been removed,” staff members said. With no funds available, about 20 percent of post offices in the district have also closed.
The situation has worsened with the dismissal of the only lady doctor at the Rawalpindi centre. Authorities have now decided to convert the facility into an officer’s residence, with preparations for renovation already underway.
Employees expressed frustration, recalling that in the past, a proposal was floated to run the Rawalpindi Medical Centre through public-private partnership, but the plan collapsed as no private entity showed interest.
Officials noted that postal dispensaries across the country once employed a significant number of doctors and staff. Now, with the closure of funds and no alternate plan for medical cadres like dispensers and technicians, uncertainty looms over their future.
Adding to their dismay, staff highlighted that the officer allotted the Rawalpindi medical centre building is not even posted within the same circle.
