Punjab Institute of Cardiology

My father has been a heart patient since 2020 and has a medical history with the Punjab Institute of Cardiology.

Recently, he suffered another stroke, after which the doctors prescribed an angiography. It has now been more than a day since my father has been admitted to the CCU ward. As far as I understand, patients are only shifted to this ward when their angiography is scheduled.

But sadly, what we are witnessing here is shameful. Patients who have allegedly bribed the department are being moved ahead in the queue, while others have been waiting in the ward for three days. Apparently, illness and urgency matter less than “setting” and money.

I can also see a poor villager in the same ward who looks extremely innocent and helpless. He does not seem to have the money to bribe anyone, nor does he even understand how this system works. He struggles to even tell his own name properly. He has been lying in the same ward for more than three days now.

Every day, they make him wear the hospital gown as if his procedure is about to happen, and by the end of the day, they make him take it off again. This is not just negligence; this is cruelty. They are playing with patients’ lives while pretending everything is running according to procedure.

No matter how beautifully the government tries to present the healthcare system, the ground reality is completely different. From security guards to doctors, it seems everyone has a price. The system is not serving patients; it is serving those who can pay their way through it.