KARACHI: Drastic steps for uplift of govt hospitals pledged
KARACHI, Oct 18: Sindh Health Minister Syed Sardar Ahmed has pledged urgent measures to improve cleanliness and hygienic conditions at the Civil Hospital and the Lyari General Hospital.
Speaking at an informal ceremony held here on Wednesday on the occasion of the inauguration of the Surgical Ward-6 built at the CHK with the support of philanthropists, Mirza Naqi and Family, he said the gesture had to be supplemented by an improved performance of doctors and other staff associated with health department.
“We are fully conscious about poor maintenance and state of the different buildings located within the vicinity of the two major hospitals of the city, the minister said.
To address the situation, he added, civil engineers would be inducted to ensure a regular upkeep of the essential public health facilities.
Syed Sardar Ahmed held out the assurance that all provincial health care facilities would be provided with essentials for their uplift.
He said the department did not have paucity of funds, rather the problems being faced was inability to use the same properly and within the stipulated time.
He said that posting of doctors in government-run hospitals would be made only on merit.
Nepotism and favour on political grounds is the basic reason for the poor performance of these hospitals. Quoting an example of posting of a medical expert in the Management Information System Department, he viewed the appointment, on ad hoc basis, had not been made considering the person’s expertise in the relevant field.
He, however, hoped that with coordinated efforts of ministry and hospital management this type of transfers and postings would be brought to an end.
Regarding standards of the facilities at public sector hospitals, Sardar Ahmed noted that millions of rupees were being spent only on x-ray films but without the desired results. Why is there a visible difference between the standards maintained by the government hospitals and those of the private ones, like Aga Khan Hospital? he asked.
Talking to journalists, he said that it was up to the Board of Directors of the CHK to devise a mechanism for procuring the required medicines. He advised the authorities to distribute funds for the purpose to the concerned departments in order to ensure appropriate use of the funds.
The minister stated that he had put forward a proposal in the cabinet meeting to give additional salary of Rs3,000 to Rs5,000 to the doctors willing to perform duties in rural areas. He also held out the assurance of raising stipend of the house-job doctors at the CHK from Rs6,000 to Rs10,000.
Mr Ahmed said the health department was in the process of inducting 750 doctors, through the Public Service Commission whereas another 450 doctors would be appointed on an ad hoc basis to meet the acute shortage of doctors in the public sector facilities.
The minister said that 500 other highly qualified medical practitioners would be designated in the specialist cadre.
He said that services and assignments of the doctors already associated with the provincial government’s health care facilities were no more being adjusted and each of them had been directed to serve at their original position.
“Doctors, nurses and paramedics will be expected to serve the patients without any failure and also work in the positions consonant to their grades,” he said in reply to a question.
Regarding security, he said that Rangers had been given the task of guarding the Lyari General Hospital premises after growing complaints from public and hospital staff regarding involvement of hoodlums in creating scare.
Speaking at the ceremony, Majyd Aziz, president of Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said that uplift work at government hospital should have been undertaken a long time ago. He said it was the private sector once again which had taken a step forward in helping out the health sector. He pledged that the KCCI would extend its full support for the development of the state-run hospitals.
Dr Kaleem Butt, MS of the CHK, and others also spoke on occasion.—APP/PPI
