LAHORE: In compliance with the directions of Punjab Ombudsman Maj. Azam Suleman Khan (retd) in an own-motion notice about the shortage of staff in a hospital, the specialised healthcare & medical education (SH&ME) department has reported about the launch of a coordinated automation system in both SH&ME and primary and secondary healthcare departments for improving efficiency and service delivery.

A 9-member committee was constituted under the chair of the secretary SH&ME department, with Primary and Secondary Health (P&SH) department secretary as its co-chairperson, in pursuance of the directions of Ombudsman Punjab Azam Suleman to introduce a coordinated automation system in both the departments.

A report submitted to the ombudsman office by the SH&ME department has intimated the detail of departmental reforms including a province-wide dengue activity tracking system, a COVID-19 dashboard to remain updated about the latest situation of the corona disease, an organized civil registration system to record/update information about birth and death daily, district health information system for collecting, processing, analyzing data and providing informative feedback to primary, secondary and tertiary level healthcare facilities. This provides baseline data for district planning, implementation, and monitoring of major indicators of disease patterns, preventive services, and physical resources daily, the report added.

The report noted that the development of an online human resource management information system has helped to digitally store updated data of all the staff under the administrative control of the SH&ME department in the form of individual profiles. Alongside, the report reported that a comprehensive financial assistance portal system was also being designed and would be made online shortly to analyze, process, and finalize the cases of financial assistance for needy patients.

While giving the details of upcoming projects for better coordination between primary & secondary healthcare and SH&ME departments, the report admitted that the hospital-wise dashboard would inculcate all the information about medical professionals working in the particular institute besides information related to ongoing procurement.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022