Health high-ups urged to solve DHQ Hospital’s issues

JHANG: The local business community and general public on Saturday urged the Health Department authorities to address the administrative, financial and human resource challenges being faced by the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital.

They highlighted that the hospital boasts a substantial medical workforce, including a significant number of male and female doctors, consultants, and specialists. This impressive medical staff is further supported by a large contingent of nurses, paramedics, medical technicians, and other healthcare professionals, surpassing the staffing levels of many other district-level hospitals.

Sources pointed out that three senior doctors were assigned duties as Additional Medical Superintendents while many others were assigned monitoring duties as Deputy MS, relieving them from their primary patient care duties. They also noted that contractual administrators, auditors, finance officers, IT specialists, quality assurance officers, and procurement officers were also posted at the hospital.

It was revealed that a significant number of hospital doctors were also assigned “choice data entry” work for virtual programs, with the associated funding utilized by the District Health Officer (DHO) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Health offices.

Sources stated that necessary directives had already been issued to the DHQ Hospital administration to ensure biometric attendance of all officers and officials during both arrival and departure times.

They also highlighted that Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ali Akbar not only inspected the provision of free medicines to all patients but also personally observed the cleanliness of various wards and washrooms during his visits.

The aggrieved patient caretakers demanded that the MS ensure proper duty performance by all supporting staff, including ward servants, stretcher runners, and other non-medical support personnel.

Responding to public grievances, the hospital MS claimed that patient service delivery was being conducted according to the availability of human and financial resources. The hospital administration added that upon completion of ongoing development projects, including the cardiac emergency block, the patients would benefit from improved facilities.

The District Health Authority Administrator, DC Ali Akbar, stated that the performance of the DHQ Hospital was under constant observation to ensure the provision of enhanced healthcare services to the patients.