Generators for all hospitals: CM Punjab

[LRE]

Generators for all hospitals: CM

Sunday, November 02, 2008
By Our Correspondent

LAHORE

PUNJAB Chief Minister Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said the availability of generators is being ensured in all the hospitals for maintaining a smooth supply of power so as to reduce the problems of the patients. He said the generators were being purchased worth more than one billion rupees for this purpose. He said the provision of generators should also be ensured in private hospitals in accordance with the rules in the interest of the patients.

He said the dialysis centers were being set up throughout the province for the provision of free treatment to the kidney patients, and 60 dialysis machines were being imported for this purpose. He said these machines should be imported by air so as to make this facility available to the kidney patients as early as possible.

The chief minister was presiding over a high level meeting regarding availability of generators in hospitals and establishment of dialysis centers at Chief Minister’s Secretariat on Saturday. Members National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Bilal Yasin, Members Provincial Assembly Dr. Asad Ashraf, Tahir Ahmad Sindhu, Karam Elahi Bandial, Secretary Health, Chief Executive Services Hospital Dr. Faisal Masood as well as concerned officers were also present. The chief minister said the government was paying due attention to the provision of modern treatment to the people and revolutionary measures were being taken in this regard. He said the teaching hospitals had been granted complete financial and administrative autonomy for the provision of better healthcare. However, he said, the efforts, in this regard, could not yield desired results unless doctors and paramedical staff performed their responsibilities with honesty and commitment. He said it was regrettable that despite the efforts of the government quality health services were not being made available to the patients in the hospitals and the people were facing different problems.

He said the sanitary conditions were also not satisfactory in the hospitals, the reason for which was lack of sense of responsibility. He said that besides far-flung areas of the province, sanitary arrangements were also unsatisfactory in major hospitals of Lahore and the toilets were filthy while drainage system was usually chocked. He said the rich people were offered treatment in hospitals on preferential basis while the poor were ignored. He said he would not tolerate the situation, as the poor had as much right over medical facilities as the rich. He said it was indeed unfortunate that cleanliness conditions were unsatisfactory even in a hospital like Services Hospital. He directed the Chief Executive Services Hospital to transform the hospital into a model hospital where modern treatment should be available to the common man. He said all necessary resources would be provided for this purpose.

The chief minister further said that generators to be imported for hospital should have dual kit system for gas and diesel so that expenditures could be minimized. He directed the members of national and provincial assemblies to undertake visits to the hospitals located in their respective areas for reviewing matters like provision of generators, dialysis centers and vacancies and send him a comprehensive report. He said it should also be ensured that all generators in hospitals were in working condition.

Earlier, Secretary Health while giving a briefing regarding generators and dialysis machines in different hospitals in the province informed that four dialysis machines each would be installed in all district hospitals out of which one machine would be reserved for screening of hepatitis C. He said that an amount of Rs.540 million had been allocated for dialysis machines out of which funds of more than Rs.133 million had been released. He said that 207 generators for the benefit of patients would soon be purchased while 197 generators were already functioning in different hospitals. He said the new generators would also help in running air-conditioners in hospitals.

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