Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif presided over a meeting here on Wednesday to review progress on reforms towards providing standardised medical facilities to the people of Punjab.
Addressing the meeting, the chief minister said that a comprehensive program is being implemented to provide excellent medical facilities to the people, with 40 tehsil and district headquarters hospitals (THQs and DHQs) being upgraded under this program.
He directed authorities to complete the up-gradation process at the earliest.
Shehbaz Sharif said that the non-clinical services in the 40 THQs and DHQs will be outsourced to improve hospital standards.
The meeting also approved steps to overcome the shortage of medical officers in the government hospitals of remote areas. Shehbaz Sharif said that a special pay package would be offered to medical officers serving in remote areas. The meeting also decided to give Rs 5000 allowance per case to anaesthetists.
The chief minister directed a plan to be made for providing pick and drop services to female doctors.
Shehbaz Sharif said that radiology and pathology facilities will also be outsourced in the 40 DHQs and THQs and that the CT scan facility will be provided in all 36 districts, with companies providing the machines also being responsible for operating them.
He said that the recruitment of 1300 nurses has been approved for 40 selected hospitals, directing authorities to complete the recruitment speedily. The meeting also approved a separate service cadre for students studying towards Bachelor of Science (BS) degrees in various medical departments. Recruitment for this service cadre was also approved.
The meeting also approved the biomedical workshops program for Multan, Lahore, Sargodha, and Rawalpindi. The chief minister said that mobile satellite units will be set up with the biomedical workshops.
“No case of polio was reported in Punjab in 2016 and the rotavirus vaccination program has been launched and admired by international institutions,” Shehbaz Sharif said. He admired provincial health officials for their excellent performance in the vaccination program.
He said that the Punjab government had evolved such system that the rich will get the same medicine as was provided to the poor.
Provincial ministers Khwaja Salman Rafique, Khwaja Imran Nazeer, and Begum Zakiya Shah Nawaz, MPA Dr Nadia Aziz, Dr Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, Adviser Dr Umer Saif, the chief secretary, the additional chief secretary, planning and development chairman, and various departmental secretaries and health experts were also present on the occasion.