HYDERABAD: In the light of the Sindh High Court directives issued several months ago, a meeting was held at the Liaquat University Hospital (LUH) on Wednesday to discuss measures to bring about overall improvement in the working of and facilities at the hospital.

The meeting, chaired by Health Secretary Dr Saeed Ahmed, was attended by Hyderabad Commis­sio­ner Syed Asif Hyder Shah, Deputy Commissioner Motasim Abbasi, Services and Works secretary Ejaz Memon, LUH medical superintendent Dr Wajid Shaikh and other officials.

The meeting took some decisions regarding security, attendance and unauthorised medical stores on the LUH premises.

In his report prepared in pursuance of the SHC directives, the commissioner had proposed infrastructural uplift of the hospital including repair of existing wards, water supply and drainage system and additional units especially emergency ward and operation theatres.

The meeting discussed all issues ranging from security to maintenance and uplift to sanitation for which the works and services secretary and engineers were invited to attend it.

The meeting decided to refurbish emergency services in the casualty and outpatient departments as well as the operating theatres.

It also decided to resume all pending works and accelerate the pace of ongoing works.

The health secretary told Dawn after the meeting that the uplift schemes for which funds had already been released were reviewed so that they could executed by June next year. He said that some security-related problems would be looked into and a private security company would be engaged to ensure safety of patients, attendants and staff in various wards.

Dr Ahmed said that unauthorised medical stores functioning within hospital vicinity would be removed.

He said that attendance of professors would be ensured by the hospital management. The LUH administration would take care of management in an efficient manner. He added that details of some equipment and machinery were obtained from the medical superintendent and an updated information was sought regarding the angiography machine, for which an amount of Rs60 million was allocated.

The commissioner said that works on a Rs431 million uplift scheme was under way. “Rangers picket will be set up inside the hospital,” he said, adding that attendance of house officers, professors and postgraduate students would strictly be ensured.

“All medical stores that exist within the hospital are unauthorised and will be removed,” he said. Only the district health officer or the hospital’s medical superintendent was authorised to grant permission for the setting up of a medical store on the hospital’s premises. “Therefore, all these stores are unauthorised regardless of their claims of having permission from any other functionary,” he said.

The SHC division bench comprising Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Salahuddin Panhwar in its order passed in September had observed that the “hospital is overburdened because of improper secondary medical facilities in nearby districts thus till such time level of secondary medial facilities in such districts is uplifted, the health department with the consultation of senior professors of hospital should ensure provision of required equipments, medications, staff etc. This exercise should be completed in 30-days. Health department should frame a policy to chalk out measures to redress grievances of people”

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2015