LAHORE (Asif Iqbal)- In a significant push for healthcare reforms, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has approved the establishment of CM Health Vigilance Squads to ensure monitoring and accountability in public hospitals across the province.
According to official sources, the squads, comprising medical doctors, pharmacists, biomedical engineers, budget officers, and data experts, will begin work under a pilot project in selected districts. The CM has directed that action be taken on hospital monitoring reports within 24 hours.
The initiative is aimed at evaluating availability of medicines, duty rosters, clinical services, biomedical equipment, and other key functions of hospitals. A comprehensive checklist is being developed for the surveillance teams.
In addition to the squads, the Chief Minister has also given the go-ahead for the creation of a Special Directorate of Monitoring under the Health and Population Department. The directorate will operate through dedicated monitoring units at district and tehsil levels and house a 24/7 surveillance room to track hospital performance in real time.
The CM also announced a host of new healthcare measures:
Gastroenterology services will be introduced across Punjab, starting with a specialized centre at Services Hospital, Lahore.
Trauma centres will be established at district and tehsil hospitals, including one at Faisal Masood Teaching Hospital in Sargodha.
A cardiology ward will be established at the Teaching Hospital in Gujranwala, while four operation theatres at Multan Institute of Cardiology will be equipped and made operational.
Nurses holding BSN degrees will be offered paid internships in public hospitals.
Free medicine announcements must be made regularly; the CM ordered disciplinary action against any hospital that fails to comply.
Approval has also been given for the establishment of cath labs in eight district hospitals, with a December deadline set for commencement of cardiac procedures.
Chief Minister Sharif directed officials to ensure that doctors in remote areas are provided furnished accommodations, and ordered fast-tracked revamping and outsourcing of Maryam Nawaz Health Clinics.
In a high-level meeting, CM also demanded a detailed report on ventilator availability, and instructed the construction of waiting areas for patients, complete with shade, fans, and drinking water.
Further, she instructed the Health Secretary to personally re-interview all CEOs and MSs of government hospitals for fresh merit-based postings.
A departmental briefing revealed that:
Patient footfall in government hospitals has increased by 23%.
70% of patients across Punjab are seeking treatment in public health facilities.
Around 98% of medicines are being provided free of cost in most hospitals.
Clinic-on-Wheels and Field Hospitals have treated over 10 million patients.
2541 type-1 diabetes patients received free insulin.
7458 hepatitis and 8107 TB patients are receiving medications through public facilities.
Remarkably, officials noted that the Maryam Nawaz Health Clinic in Murree is even catering to patients from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Expressing dissatisfaction over reports of patients being forced to buy medicines from outside despite availability in pharmacies, the CM said:
It is deeply disturbing that patients are still being made to purchase medicines, even when they exist in stock. Free and fair healthcare is a right of every common citizen.
The meeting also reviewed progress on the Nawaz Sharif Medical District Project and the upcoming Nawaz Sharif Institute of Cardiology in Sargodha.
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