PESHAWAR: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Sehat Card Plus is a public welfare project and federal government is making efforts for the extension of this scheme to the whole country.
He was addressing on the occasion of the inauguration of new Outdoor Patients Department (OPD) in Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) here Wednesday. Beside, KP Governor Shah Farman and Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, provincial ministers were also present on the occasion.
Prime Minister Imran Khan appreciated the performance of KP government in general and particularly in connections with Sehat Card Plus and said that the scheme has generated a positive competition between public and private sector hospitals and would prove a catalyst for bringing improvement in the performance of public sector hospitals. He said that due to facilities available under Sehat Card Plus, people would prefer those hospitals were better health facilities are available and hospitals would have to concentrate on bringing maximum improvement in their facilities.
The prime minister said that despite the scarcity of resources, they are taking the public welfare process and poor-friendly schemes forward.
Appreciating the infrastructure available in the new OPD Block of Khyber Teaching Hospital, he said that better infrastructure and modern facilities in any hospital help improve the performance of its doctors and paramedical staff. Giving example of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, he said that utmost efforts has been made for guaranteeing best infrastructure, latest medical facilities and better environment. So doctors and paramedical staff working there could serve patients in better manner. He said that due to these efforts Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital has been listed among 50 best international hospitals.
The Prime minister commended the management of the hospital for constructing the new OPD Block despite limited budget.
On this occasion, the Prime Minister was told that construction work on the block was started in 2017 and completed at the cost of Rs.700 million. Out of that amount Rs.300 million and Rs.40 million have been spent on the provision of equipments and infrastructure facilities beside the installation of the central air-conditioned system at the cost of Rs.500 million.
The prime minister was told that laundry and CSSD equipments for the block have been imported from Spain that is available in any other hospital of the province. He was further told that the construction of the Phase 1 of the new block also include 6 Wards and Modular Operation Theater that would be completed within next three years and then Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the project would be taken forward.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021