PHC issues guidelines for emergency healthcare services

LAHORE: The Punjab Healthcare Commission has issued new guidelines for emergency departments of public and private hospitals to improve the quality of emergency healthcare services.

For orientation on these guidelines and to workout strategies for thorough implementation, a seminar was organised at the Punjab Institute of Neuro Sciences (PINS), which was jointly chaired by Chief Executive Officer PHC Dr Muhammad Saqib Aziz and Secretary Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department Dr Ahmed Javed Qazi. Executive Director PINS Professor of Neurosurgery Dr Khalid Mehmood, in his welcome note, lauded PHC for providing comprehensive guidelines.

Dr Saqib Aziz, in his opening remarks, said that the minimum service delivery standards (MSDS) require the healthcare establishments to make necessary arrangements for the provision of emergency care in accordance with the scope of services of the respective HCEs. He also informed that, during inspections of 28 hospitals, the PHC had realised that the arrangements in most of the hospitals for dealing with emergencies were not up to the required standards. He enlisted three major issues, that is, mindset, the lukewarm will to implement MSDS and the sustainability of implementation over longer periods. “Hospital culture is rife with inefficiencies and apathy, and negligence to professionalism and ethics are marring efforts to improve service delivery,” he added, while hoping that implementation of standards would bring betterment to service delivery. He also mentioned that the MSDS were being revised, and the grading of hospitals was also in the offing. He underlined the need for training of medics, and the availability of specialized care in emergencies round the clock.

Secretary Dr Ahmed Javed Qazi emphasised the importance of handling medical emergencies, and vowed to fill in the gaps in service delivery, and pay heed to the suggestions made by the PHC and its team. PHC Directors PHC Dr Mushtaq Ahmed and Dr Muhammad Anwar Janjua presented salient features of the guidelines, and informed that the PHC had finalised the guidelines in consultation with the hospital emergency experts by incorporating contemporary legal provisions and regional best practices.