LAHORE, Oct 19: Punjab hospitals are in a combat ready position to receive a maximum of 13,000 patients and their around 7,000 relatives from the earthquake-hit areas, making all arrangements for their treatment and care.

This was stated by Law Minister Raja Basharat and Health Secretary Javed Malik at a news briefing here at the Civil Secretariat on Wednesday.

The law minister said the Punjab government had conveyed to the federal government that it could treat all sorts of 13,000 patients and provide food and shelter to their 7,000 relatives.

“We are ready to receive the patients who have started coming to Lahore through military aircraft,” he said.

He said the treatment facility was in addition to the medical assistance the province was providing in the affected areas in the shape of doctors, para-medical staff, equipment and medicines.

The Punjab government had also decided to open three field hospitals in such areas, one each in Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Mansehra, by the end of this week, he said.

The teaching hospitals in Punjab have a total capacity of 12,000 beds, district headquarter hospitals 6,000 beds and tehsil headquarter hospitals 4,000 beds.

The health secretary said initially the patients would be treated and kept in Lahore hospitals. Around 32 were taken here on Tuesday and 25 on Wednesday. They were being transported to the city in small numbers, he said.

In Lahore, he said, 4,000 beds had been reserved for such patients. They would be operated upon in 90 operation theatres in the city hospitals. Teams of doctors had been constituted for the operations and the follow-up treatment and their duty roster prepared for a 24-hour care.

The secretary said arrangements too had been finalized to provide accommodation, free food and other facilities to relatives of the patients in the hospitals.

He explained that after the required medical treatment or surgery in major hospitals patients would be shifted to small hospitals or speciality hospitals for further treatment and recovery. This would be done to create room for more serious patients in major hospitals.