LAHORE: The ruling party’s tag on a health scheme is said to be a guarantee of its timely execution and completion in Punjab.

An obvious example in this regard is two mega health schemes of the same teaching institute -- King Edward Medical University/Mayo Hospital, Lahore.

Last week, the health department dispatched two schemes to the Planning and Development Department for approval – construction of a surgical tower at Mayo Hospital and establishment of a new campus of the KEMU on Narowal-Muridke Road.

The first scheme had been launched by the PML-Q during its tenure in 2004 and the other initiated in 2014 in the period of the ruling PML-N.

The health department sent PC-I of the surgical tower, which was revised thrice since it was launched, and PC-II of the newly initiated KEMU project. The estimated cost of surgical tower project was said to be Rs2 billion while the initial cost mentioned in the second scheme was Rs12 billion.

The historic background of the two schemes revealed that the significance of the surgical tower was greater in respect of patients’ treatment compared to the second one.

The six-storey surgical tower was proposed keeping in view the pending lists of the patients who were being given months long appointment time.

However, the inordinate delay in the completion of this much-awaited project has not only increased the patients load on the health facility but also multiplied their miseries.

The initial cost was estimated to be Rs400 million when the surgical tower project had been launched in 2004 and after a delay of 10 years or so it has now reached to Rs2 billion, showing the level of non-seriousness of the government towards the PML-Q’s scheme.

Defending his department’s position, Health Secretary Jawad Rafiq Malik said 60 per cent delay in completing surgical tower project was the ‘faulty’ PC-I when it was prepared in the PML-Q period. “The PC-I of the scheme was prepared in haste in two days only.

However, an official who is associated with the scheme said the PML-N government took six years to address the issues highlighted in the first PC-I which was beyond comprehesnion.

According to the PC-II sent by the health department to the P&D department (a copy is available with Dawn), the Punjab government is planning to establish a new independent premises of the KEMU out of the city bounds of Lahore.

For this purpose, the government has allocated an area of 233 acres on the Narowal-Muridke Road in Sheikhupura district. The premises will have all the essential components of the medical university so that quality education along with top-class practical experience can be provided to the students at one place. “Keeping in view the present-day trends and requirements, multi-storey buildings would be constructed to accommodate facilities,” the documents say.

The project would be carried out in a phased manner. This objective would be fulfilled by engaging consultants for carrying out a detailed survey of the area, preparing master plan and engineering design of various components of the project.

Giving justification for the new scheme, the documents say the KEMU is located right in the heart of Anarkali which is a densely populated area and visited by thousands of people every day.

“Anarkali is downtown area always choked with traffic and resonating with the noise of car horns making it difficult for the students to focus on their educational activities and travelling to and from the university is no less than an uphill task,” the documents say.

The bureaucracy in the relevant government departments seems quite serious in expediting work on the scheme.

On the other hand, no designated project director was appointed since the surgical tower scheme was launched. The project was being ‘looked after’ by the professors of the KEMU. Prof Dr Sadaqat Ali Khan was the last one who was running the affairs of the mega scheme. He is still discharging duties even after his retirement.

Talking about significance of the project, Prof Sadaqat told Dawn that the 385-bed facility would be a unique one in the entire health infrastructure of the province.

He said presently Rs700 million had been utilised but more were pending for approval. He said in the six-floor tower, there would be a designated sterilisation system, central gas supply, IT Network, 16 operation theatres including two modular theatres, burn unit, plastic surgery department, radio diagnostic set up, etc. under one roof.

One of the salient features of this scheme is to reduce waiting time of the patients. “Eight ultrasound machines will be installed in the tower and maximum waiting time for every patient requiring this test will be five minutes,” Prof Sadaqat said.

He said four modern X-ray machines were also part of the scheme besides other heavy and highly expensive equipment.

He said due to inordinate delay in the completion of the state-of-the-art project, the cost on equipment increased in the international market.

The health secretary said the release of funds for surgical tower was being delayed due to technical grounds. For instance, he said, in the PC-I the sewerage lines were proposed to be laid down right under the operation theatres. Much space in the six-storey surgical tower was reserved for the doctors instead of patients. Huge size rooms and offices for the doctors were designed in the documents.

“There was no project management unit in the PC-I which is a basic requirement of a scheme to execute it without faults,” the secretary said, adding that keeping in view the flaws and shortcomings his department recommended a revised PC-I. The PMU was also part of the new recommendations.

He, however, made it clear that the completion of the surgical tower depended upon the release of funds by the government.

Published in Dawn January 27th, 2015

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