Staff Reporter
The Burns Emergency Centre at Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto (SMBB) Institute of
Trauma has not been made functional, as the hiring of specialist doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other
staff has not started as yet, this project was inaugurated by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in
December 2015.The SMBB Institute of Trauma management has allocated its 8th floor for Burns
Emergency Centre to provide emergency treatment facilities to burn-injured and also procured costly
equipment, but the center is still not functional.However, the recruitment of specialist doctors,
paramedical staff and nurses has not initiated yet. The SMBB management has allocated 40 beds for
burns-related emergencies; out of then ten each for High Dependency Units (HDU), male, female and
children units. Ten separate rooms were also designed for patients who require intensive burns care
management.The costly equipment has been lying idle for the last five years due to the unavailability of
staff.The critical burn-related injured patients are being to private-sector health facilities from the
trauma center as their own Burns Emergency Centre has not started working as yet.This 14-storied
‘state-of-the-art’ trauma center was started in January 2009 with cost Rs2.22 billion but the excessive
delays increased the cost of the project.Around Rs7 billion have already been spent on different projects
so far but several departments are not made operational yet due to shortage of manpower, funds and
other reasons.Chief Operating Officer (COO), SMBB Institute of Trauma, Dr. Aijaz Zubedi, was not
available for comment.
