Midland doctors build state of the art health facility near Muzaffarabad

   Hardly 9 kilometres away from the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) capital, along the much improved Jhelum valley road, one cannot help but notice a magnificent structure that has unobtrusively emerged over the last four years and houses a state of the art charitable health facility.

For long, most of the people driving through Tandali village were not aware that how selflessly and tirelessly a team of United Kingdom based devoted Pakistani and Kashmiri doctors was working day and night to translate its dream of providing this ‘humble gift’ to the earthquake stricken people of Kashmir.

Today, the 88-bed health facility stands out in the picturesque area, thanks to the blood, sweat and tears of Midland Doctors Association United Kingdom (MDAUK), a registered charity in UK with zero administrative expenditure.

During a visit to the hospital site on Wednesday, a day before its formal inauguration by AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, this scribe caught a glimpse of how the MDAUK team had thrown itself heart and soul into the project over the last five years.

Dr Syed Yusuf Iftikhar, who heads MDAUK as chairman, was passing directions to workers and volunteers to make everything in readiness for the inaugural ceremony.

The 58-year old Karachi born consultant surgeon recalled that how it was decided to raise a ‘futuristic health facility’ in this region, in the aftermath of October 2005 earthquake, which left more than 70,000 people dead and thousands others wounded.

Within a week after the tragedy, Dr Iftikhar was among a team of 7 surgeons from Nottingham and Derby which flew into Pakistan and worked over the next six days in a field hospital in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The glaringly obvious lack of appropriate medical facilities even before the disaster was shocking for them and, on return to England, all dedicated themselves to building a charitable hospital in the region.

MDUK was created initially to serve this simple purpose though later it engaged itself in other charitable acts in Pakistan as well, such as establishing a model village in Sindh for the flood victims.

According to Dr Iftikhar, the hospital was designed to not only provide completely free healthcare at the point of delivery but also serve as a major training centre for local healthcare professionals as well as a focal point for any future relief operations in the event of any other disaster.

Land, measuring more than 4 acres, was acquired in 2008.  Architectural design and structural engineering drawings were done in UK and Pakistan, respectively, to resist a 9-magnitude temblor and finally construction work started in July 2009.

Dr Iftikhar would travel to Pakistan after every three months, at his own expense, for 3-4 days to inspect the construction work and meet relevant needs. So would be done by other members, including the Mirpur born MDAUK vice chairman Dr Javed Raza.

When asked if ever he thought that he had launched a difficult project, Dr Iftikhar said: “Our vision was to do something unique, something that was not previously available to the people here.”

“Today I am excited that we have been able to actualise our aim of raising the National Health Services (NHS) inspired health facility which will be run by the NHS consultants, thanks to our trustees, sponsors and donors,” he added.

He told that instantly they had hired a staff of 15 people, including two doctors, to run the facility. However, gradually, the strength would swell to 125, from highest to the lowest tier.

A team of senior surgeons from the UK would visit the hospital every month not only to perform operations but also to transform their knowledge to the local staff, he added.

The imposing edifice, with red brick roofs, has two portions. The front portion is single storied whereas the rear portion has two floors. In between and around are lush green lawns, some still under development.

The structure houses 16 capacious wards with attached bathrooms, operation theatres, laboratory, X-ray plant, physiotherapy section, lecture hall, canteen and a prayer place.

Hospital and patients will benefit from picture archiving and communication system (PACS) through which X-rays and other electronic images would be transmitted to the MDAUK office for expert opinion.

The building is also equipped with a digital telephone system with 60 handsets and associated accessories, night vision cameras and IT facilities.

To a question, he said as yet around £2.5 million had been spent on the project. The cost could have swelled, had the construction work been given to any contractor, he said.

Local residents were jubilant at the opening of a modern hospital in the area.

“This hospital will not only provide us much needed healthcare facilities but also serve as a milestone in development of the entire area,” said one of them on the occasion. Tariq Naqash