CJP likely to visit other hospitals of the provincial capital in coming days
LAHORE: Both the doctors and students of Mayo Hospital and King Edward Medical University (KEMU) were pleased when Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar along with two other judges of the Supreme Court (SC) paid an unplanned visit to the country’s oldest public sector hospital on Tuesday.
According to details, CJP Saqib Nisar along with two other judges of the apex court, namely Justice Umar Atta Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, paid a surprise visit to Mayo Hospital soon after the hearing of a suo motu case regarding the provision of hygienic drinking water in Punjab at Lahore registry of the Supreme Court. The visit was so sudden that both the health department and administration of Mayo Hospital were completely unaware of any such development in their surroundings.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Young Doctors Association Pakistan General Secretary Dr Salman Kazmi, who was also present on the occasion, said that the CJP first came to the emergency ward and inquired about the facilities being provided to the patients.
“The CJP met a House Officer at East Surgical Ward and enquired about the working environment of the hospital before proceeding to other parts of the hospital where he also paid visits to East Medical Ward and West Surgical Ward,” Dr Kazmi said, while appreciating the CJP’s visit to the hospital.
He also visited the newly-constructed surgical tower and got a briefing from the Medical Superintendent (MS) regarding new MRI and CT scan machines installed at the facility. The CJP left immediately after completing a round of the hospital, he added.
Dr Kazmi was of the view that such unplanned visits of high profile people should take place from time to time these kept the administration more vigilant in providing facilities to the patients. This way the students also get a chance to meet important people running the affairs of the country as had happened in the case of the CJP who also met with the students of MBBS during his visit to the hospital, he added.
An official of the health department told this scribe that earlier it was decided that CJP would visit Children’s Hospital and Services Hospital on Tuesday, but later he changed his plan and decided to visit Mayo Hospital because it was the nearest hospital from the court.
After the hearing, Saqib Nisar also requested the Punjab chief secretary to accompany the three-member bench of the SC on their surprise visit to Mayo Hospital. The CJP also instructed the administration to install water filtration plants in Mayo Hospital to provide clean drinking water to the people, while also ordering that there must be separate wards for men and women in the hospital.
It is worth mentioning here that even the Punjab Health Department Spokesman Ikhlaq Khan was also unaware about the CJP’s visit as he told this scribe that he came to know about his visit through television news channels. It was also learnt that the CJP was likely to visit other hospitals of the city in days to come as he was scheduled to stay in Lahore for almost a week due to ongoing cases in the SC Lahore registry.