300 complete rural hospitals planned

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has announced a Hospital of the Month award for healthcare facilities demonstrating outstanding performance across the province. Presiding over a video-link meeting, the chief minister decided to transform 300 Maryam Nawaz Hospitals (Rural Health Centres) into fully-fledged hospitals. She said 911 Clinics on Wheels had provided medical care to 30 million patients. It was decided in the meeting to introduce digital medical boxes for the mobile clinics to perform ultrasound, blood sugar, CBC and ECG tests through a single system. A camera can be connected to the digital box for teleconferencing, while a mobile phone-linked smart ultrasound device will also be introduced. CM Maryam Nawaz ordered that 40,000 doctors and allied health professionals be recruited for hospitals across Punjab. She was informed that 2,524 doctors, 2,482 women medical officers, 408 consultants and 32 cardiologists had been recruited. In addition, 7,572 lady health visitors (LHVs) and 5,048 support staff have been posted in hospitals across the province. The chief minister ordered the provision of a new CT scan machine in every district and establishment of telemedicine centres for seasonal and common diseases. Patients will be able to consult doctors through video calls at the centres and, where necessary, be referred to the relevant hospital and ward. The telemedicine centres will facilitate appointments with the relevant ward, laboratory or other facility. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz ordered immediate replacement of the medical superintendents of four hospitals over poor performance and negligence of duties. She also ordered the formation of a pool of doctors and medical superintendents to deal with emergency situations. She ordered that cleanliness and parking facilities at district and tehsil headquarters hospitals be improved. For the first time in the province, Clinic Quality Control Officers will be appointed to assess the treatment provided to patients. A Directorate of Monitoring and Surveillance has been established in the primary healthcare department to ensure 24-hour digital monitoring of every hospital. The system will cover the DHQ, THQ and Maryam Nawaz Hospitals, Maryam Nawaz Health Clinics, Field Hospitals and Clinics on Wheels. The participants were informed that Community Health Monitoring Inspectors had completed the registration and data collection of more than 119.8 million people across Punjab. Medicines were delivered to the homes of 3,444 Type-1 diabetes, 14,286 hepatitis and 13,864 TB patients. The participants agreed on legislation to link private clinics with the Health Information Management System (HIMS). Provincial Secretary for Primary and Secondary Healthcare and Population, Nadia Saqib, gave a briefing during the meeting. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz congratulated the newly-elected office-bearers of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and expressed hope that they would work with the provincial government to promote trade and industry. She expressed these views during a meeting with Punjab Minister Khawaja Imran Nazir, whom she commended for his role in the election campaign. In a message on Readers' Day, the chief minister highlighted the importance of newspaper reading, congratulating journalists associated with the print media, office-bearers and members of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) and representatives of all organisations associated with the print media. The chief minister also paid tribute to newspaper readers for their continued interest in print journalism.