Maryam announces monthly ‘Hospital of the Month’ award

LAHORE, Sep 25 (APP):Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Friday announced a monthly “Hospital of the Month” award for hospitals 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 and noted that 911 Clinics on Wheels had provided medical care to 30 million patients within a short period.

The meeting also decided to introduce digital medical boxes for Clinics on Wheels for the first time in Punjab. The boxes would facilitate ultrasound, blood sugar, CBC and ECG tests through a single system. A camera could also be connected to the digital medical box for teleconferencing, while a mobile-linked smart ultrasound device would also be introduced.

Maryam Nawaz directed the recruitment of 40,000 doctors and allied health professionals for hospitals across Punjab. The meeting was informed that 2,524 doctors, 2,482 women medical officers, 408 consultants and 32 cardiologists had already been recruited. Besides, 7,572 lady health visitors and 5,048 support staff had been posted in hospitals across the province.

The chief minister ordered the provision of a new CT scan machine in every district and directed the establishment of telemedicine centres for seasonal and common diseases. Patients would be able to consult doctors through video calls at the centres and, where necessary, be referred to the relevant hospital and ward. The centres would also facilitate appointments with the relevant ward, laboratory or other facility.

Maryam Nawaz ordered the immediate replacement of medical superintendents of four hospitals over poor performance and negligence of duties. She also directed the formation of a pool of doctors and medical superintendents to deal with emergency situations.

She directed that cleanliness and parking facilities at district and tehsil headquarters hospitals be improved.

For the first time in Punjab, Clinic Quality Control Officers would be appointed to assess the quality of treatment being provided to patients. A Directorate of Monitoring and Surveillance had also been established in Primary Healthcare to ensure 24-hour digital monitoring of every hospital.

The digital monitoring system would cover DHQ and THQ hospitals, Maryam Nawaz Hospitals, Maryam Nawaz Health Clinics, Field Hospitals and Clinics on Wheels.

The meeting was informed that Community Health Monitoring Health Inspectors had completed registration and data collection of more than 119.8 million people across Punjab.

Medicines had been delivered to the homes of 3,444 Type-1 diabetes patients, 14,286 hepatitis patients and 13,864 TB patients.

The meeting also agreed on legislation to link private clinics with the Health Information Management System (HIMS).

Provincial Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare and Population Nadia Saqib gave a detailed briefing during the video-link meeting.