Sindh govt to upgrade emergency wards in major hospitals

Sindh Chief Secretary (CS) Syed Asif Hyder Shah has ordered upgrade of the emergency wards at major hospitals across Sindh.

Officials said the CS presided over a meeting on Wednesday to address the urgent need for upgrading the emergency wards in public hospitals across Sindh. The meeting was attended by senior health officials including Health Secretary Rehan Iqbal Baloch, Executive Director of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) Prof Shahid Rasool, Executive Director of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Trauma Centre Dr Muhammad Sabir Memon, Dr Ruth KM PFAU Civil Hospital Medical Superintendent Syed Khalid Bukhari, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital Director Dr Faisal Samdani and other key administrators.

The CS highlighted that such reforms aimed to improve accessibility and efficiency of emergency healthcare services, ensuring that the growing demand for such services was met effectively across the province.

During the meeting, the CS presented findings from a detailed data collection exercise conducted across major hospitals in Karachi. The data revealed the staggering number of patients being treated in the emergency departments of these hospitals.

For instance, the JPMC handled approximately 2,000 patients daily, with a monthly total of around 60,000 patients. Similarly, the Civil Hospital received 1,800 patients daily, with 54,000 patients each month. Other hospitals, such as Sindh Government Lyari General Hospital and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Institute of Trauma, also reported high patient volumes daily. In total, the hospitals in Sindh were managing nearly 10,000 emergency patients each day, amounting to more than 299,400 patients every month.

Acknowledging the overwhelming patient numbers, the CS stressed the urgency of upgrading emergency wards across all major hospitals in Sindh, including district and tehsil hospitals, to cope with the increasing demand.

He assured the hospital administrations that the Sindh government would provide necessary support in terms of human resource hiring, financial resources and procurement of medical equipment to ensure the success of these upgrades.

The hospital administrators welcomed this initiative and shared their recommendations based on the specific needs of their respective facilities. He directed them to submit detailed plans outlining the steps necessary for upgrading the emergency wards, which would be reviewed for swift approval to ensure a rapid and effective transformation of emergency healthcare services across Sindh.

CS Hyder Shah reiterated the Sindh government's unwavering commitment to the well-being of its citizens by improving healthcare services, particularly in emergencies, to provide timely and high-quality medical attention. The planned upgrades to the emergency wards are expected to significantly enhance the province’s healthcare capacity, ultimately benefiting the people of Sindh, especially in critical medical situations.