‘Plan to revamp hospitals finalised’

LAHORE

Punjab Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Secretary Najam Ahmad Shah has said a plan for revamping tertiary care hospitals of Punjab has been finalised which will be implemented in the next fiscal year.

In the first phase, at least six teaching hospitals will be selected for revamping which will cost billions of rupees. He said that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had already given approval for the project.

He said this while chairing a meeting to review the developmental schemes of Health Department for the next fiscal year, according to a handout issued on Wednesday. Different matters regarding strategy for revamping tertiary care hospitals, funding and preparation of PC-I of the development projects were discussed in the meeting.

The secretary said that teaching hospitals from different districts would be selected for revamping. Moreover, setting up of medical supply depot in Rahimyar Khan and construction of nursing hostel in Bahawalpur is also included in the plan.

MBBS exam calendar: University of Health Sciences (UHS) on Wednesday notified MBBS examination calendar for 2016.

According to the notification issued here, first professional MBBS annual exams 2016 for all affiliated medical colleges will commence on September 27, second professional October 04, third professional October 24, fourth professional November 14 and final professional MBBS annual exams will start on December 05.

Nurses: Nurses form the backbone of delivery of medical care in any setup, said chief guest, Dr Faisal Sultan, CEO, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, in an event on International Nurses Day held at the hospital.

According to a press release issued here on Wednesday, lauding the services of nurses for the society, he said, very often, we look at doctors and other professionals as being representative of medical care and we forget that for effective and high quality delivery of medical care, it is crucial to have excellent nursing staff. In fact, I think what distinguishes high quality care in the west is very often not just great diagnostics and treatment but the difference that comes through excellence and professionalism in nursing.

On his ending note on the occasion, Dr Faisal said, we should strive to raise our nursing standards at a level where they can be matched with standards of care and nursing in the West and other developed countries.