Process to finalise guidelines for hospital emergencies starts

LAHORE:Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) on Thursday initiated a process of finalising guidelines for hospital emergency departments and for this purpose, a committee has been constituted to complete the consultation process and submit its recommendations within a fortnight.

In this regard, a consultation meeting was held with Chief Executive Officer Punjab Healthcare Commission Dr M Saqib Aziz in the chair. President College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan Prof Shoaib Shafi, senior vice-president CPSP Prof Khalid Masood Gondal, Dean Academics CPSP Prof Ghulam Mustafa Arain, Director Licensing and Accreditation PHC Dr M Anwar Janjua, emergency medicine experts from the specialised public and private sector hospitals were also present in the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, Dr Saqib Aziz highlighted the importance of proper management of emergencies in the ‘golden hour’ to save lives. He emphasised the need to train doctors, nurses and paramedics in emergency medicine, and life-saving skills. He also underlined the need for inculcating professionalism, ethical practices and character building in the medical graduates.

“Due to high-level of stress and fear of aggression by the accompanying relatives of the critically ill patients, the emergency staff must be properly skilled and provided a safe working environment and rewarding service structure,” he added.