LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has directed immediate payment of dues of government hospitals. Free medicines are being ensured in the government hospitals.
Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique said this while chairing a meeting at the Services Institute of Medical Sciences during which hospital management, queue management and patient care and other issues were reviewed.
Khawaja Salman said that instructions have been given to display lists of medicines available in government hospitals. Instructions have also been given to activate complaint counters in government hospitals. Mist fans will be provided in the open waiting areas of government hospitals.
Khawaja Salman Rafique said that all stakeholders will have to play their role for the improvement of the health system. Under the leadership of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, historic steps are being taken in the health sector. He said the Asia’s largest Nawaz Sharif Institute of Cancer Treatment and Research is being built in Lahore. A state-of-the-art Nawaz Sharif Institutes of Cardiology are being built in Lahore and Sargodha. Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Programme, Chief Minister’s Dialysis Programme and Chief Minister’s Special Initiative for Transplant Programme are flagship programmes in the health sector, he added.
Out of 58 tertiary care hospitals, 16 are running a queue management system with the help of PITB. In the next phase, there is a plan to bring the queue management system to all other tertiary care hospitals.
According to him, there is no compromise on cleanliness in government hospitals. The Punjab government is also providing additional funds in addition to the budget for the supply of medicines in government hospitals. Licensing and cleanliness of blood banks of hospitals are also being ensured.
He stated that the Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Department is working on infection control in government hospitals. E-tendering of parking and cafeteria contracts is being done in hospitals. The delivery of medicines to patients at their homes is being ensured through Pakistan Post through seven cardiac and five cancer hospitals. The Punjab Healthcare Commission has been directed to continuously inspect government hospitals, he added.
The meeting was attended by Vice-Chancellor Fatima Jinnah Medical University Professor Khalid Masood Gondal, Vice-Chancellor University of Child Health Sciences Prof Masood Sadiq, Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof Junaid Darsheed and others.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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