Punjab Health Secretary Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan on Sunday said the government was in favour of autonomy of medical colleges and teaching hospitals but this autonomy should be service oriented and there should be a strong system of accountability.
He was addressing a high level meeting of the principals of medical colleges and medical superintendents (MS) of teaching hospitals. Besides, Health Special Secretary Waseem Mukhtar Additional(Addl.) Secretary Estt.) Muhammad Dawood Khan, Addl Secretary (Development) Usman Muazzam, Addl. Secretary (Admin) Khursheed Zaidi, Addl. Secretary (Technology) Dr Mushtaq Ahmad Sulehria, Health Director General Dr Muhammad Aslam Chaudhry, Deputy Superintendent (Admin) Saleha Saeed, King Edward Medical College Vice Chancellor, principals of medical colleges and MSs of all teaching hospitals attended the meeting.
Health secretary said authority without a sense of responsibility and accountability was useless therefore an independent system of performance audit and inspection of public sector hospitals would be introduced soon. He said, “We have to execute our responsibilities and use our authority with a sense of accountability for improving our performance.” Khan said the primary and secondary health care systems must be strengthened and improved to reduce the workload on teaching hospitals.
He urged the hospital administration to improve working by taking efficient administrative decisions. Khan ordered immediate announcement of doctors’ vacancies, not only on the websites of the Punjab Health Department but also on the Pakistan Medical Association website. He said the government believed in the welfare of health providers and, during the last three years, had taken concrete steps to facilitate both the patients and the doctors.
Earlier, the principals and medical superintendents briefed the secretary about the working of their institutions. They also apprised him about the current shortage of financial and human resources. The health secretary assured them that the government would take concrete steps to resolve the problems.