‘40 DHQ, THQ hospitals to be revamped by June’

LAHORE

Adviser to the chief minister on Health Khawaja Salman Rafiq has said the government has empowered medical superintendents by giving them financial and administrative powers. Now, it is their responsibility to run the hospital efficiently. 

He said revamping of 40 DHQ and THQ hospitals would be completed by June 2017. He said angels would not come to cure the patients; it is the doctor who has to treat them. Administrative doctors have to improve their performance and discharge their duties with more zeal and zest, he said. 

He expressed these views while addressing a one-day seminar of medical superintendents of DHQ and THQ hospitals at Directorate General Health Services, according to a handout issued on Sunday. Besides, Secretary Primary and Secondary Health Ali Jan Khan, DG Health Services Dr Mukhtar Hussain Syed, Additional Secretary Dr Adnan Zafar, Project Director Revamping Plan Muhammad Usman and other officers concerned of the department attended the meeting.

The purpose of the seminar was to sensitise the medical superintendents about the revamping plan of hospitals and their responsibilities in this regard.

Kh Salman Rafiq regretted that a number of medical superintendents even did not pay visit to the whole building of their hospitals and there are many corners of the hospitals are still out of their focus. He asked the medical superintendents to take a round of their hospitals in the evening regularly to check the system.

Secretary Primary & Secondary Health Ali Jan Khan informed that in every hospital, horticulture is also a main component of revamping plan. Moreover, Minimum Service Delivery Standard (MSDS) have been prepared with the collaboration of Punjab Healthcare Commission for which PHC would provide training to the staff of the hospital which would be mandatory. He said after enforcing the MSDS, PHC would issue certification to all the hospitals. Ali Jan Khan said janitorial services, security, laundry, mechanical, electrical and plumbing wings would be outsourced.

The Secretary Health said physiotherapy unit, dental unit, CT scan machine would be provided in every DHQ hospital and old equipment, if required would be replaced. He said all the system would be based on information technology through which hospitals would be made paperless and data of each patient would be saved through electrical medical record and the solution of long queues of patients would be sought out through queue management system for providing healthcare facilities without any delay to the patients.

PHC: The Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) is the first statutory body in Punjab to regulate healthcare services and to develop and enforce Minimum Service Delivery Standards (MSDS) at all levels by promoting a culture of clinical governance. In addition, eradicating quackery in all its forms and manifestations is also the mandate of the commission. 

This was stated by Dr Muhammad Ajmal Khan, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the PHC, speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Commission’s Regional Office at Multan, according to a press release issued on Sunday. “The commission has planned to establish its regional offices at Faisalabad and Rawalpindi divisions shortly”, he added. The purpose of setting up this regional office is to facilitate the stakeholders who want to access PHC in connection with their complaints from the South Punjab.

The commission has so for registered over 31,000 Healthcare Establishments and issued licences to over 17000 HCEs with the objective to ensure delivery of quality healthcare services. To check the quackery, PHC during the last 15 months has taken actions against over 4,000 quacks and imposed a fine of about Rs 20 million.

YDA: Newly-elected office-bearers of Young Doctors Association (YDA), Lahore General Hospital (LGH) chapter take oath from provincial president, YDA, Dr Ajmal Ch. 

According to a press release issued on Sunday, the event was attended by young doctors belonging to various hospitals of the province. Office bearers of YDA, Lahore General Hospital including President Dr Saleem Malik, General Secretary Dr Rana Asif Sagheer, Chief Coordinator Dr Usman Ashraf, Dr Ammar Ashraf and Dr Mudassar Ranjha, on this occasion, vowed to selflessly solve the problems of doctors’ community and serve the ailing humanity.

Dr Ajmal Ch stressed the leadership of YDA, LGH to devote their energies to fulfilling the expectations of their colleagues. Dr Saleem Malik and Dr Asif Sagheer said they would make efforts for the improvement of service structure, creation of new posts and foolproof arrangements for the community.