ISLAMABAD – The deadly fire at Islamabad’s leadig hospital PIMS exposed health system of capital city which is struggling under mounting pressure and an ever-growing patient load.
The recent numbers tell much grim side as 1,659 medical posts are currently vacant across Islamabad’s public healthcare facilities. Islamabad’s public healthcare system is facing mounting crisis as 1,659 posts for doctors, nurses and paramedical staff remain vacant across six government hospitals and medical centres, leaving an already overstretched system struggling to cope with an enormous patient load.
Around 4,500 posts are sanctioned across the facilities, but only about 2,800 are currently filled. The staffing gap has become particularly alarming as these government facilities collectively treat nearly 100,000 patients every day. The pressure is further intensified by the fact that more than 65% of patients come from outside Islamabad, particularly from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, turning the capital’s public hospitals into major referral centres for patients from across the country.
PIMS bear brunt
The situation at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) is particularly serious. Out of 2,451 sanctioned positions, more than 949 remain vacant.
The vacancies include 385 doctors/clinicians, 363 nurses and 201 paramedical staff—a staffing deficit that is placing extraordinary pressure on the capital’s largest public healthcare facility.
Polyclinic
At Polyclinic Hospital Islamabad, 439 posts are vacant out of 1,132 sanctioned positions. The hospital is short of 290 doctors/clinicians, 45 nurses and 104 paramedical staff, even as it continues to handle patients from Islamabad, surrounding areas and other parts of the country.
NIRM, Federal General Hospital
The staffing crisis extends beyond the capital’s two major hospitals. At the National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM), 29 of 161 sanctioned posts are vacant. Federal General Hospital has more than 57 vacancies against 212 sanctioned positions, while the District Health Office Islamabad has more than 154 vacant posts out of 494 sanctioned positions.
At the Federal TB Centre in Rawalpindi, more than 11 posts remain vacant against a sanctioned strength of 35.
The figures show troubling picture: hospitals expected to serve an enormous and growing patient population are operating with thousands of positions unfilled.
With doctors, nurses and paramedical workers in short supply and tens of thousands of patients arriving from outside the capital every day, Islamabad’s public healthcare infrastructure is facing a double squeeze—rising demand on one side and an acute shortage of medical personnel on the other.
After PIMS Nursery fire, Punjab directs immediate safety measures in hospitals
