PESHAWAR: The health department has sought Rs4 billion from the government to purchase life-saving equipments for the tehsil and district headquarters hospitals in line with the directives of Supreme Court of Pakistan for next financial year.

The new list, containing 21 equipments, has been sent to chief secretary and he has been requested to ensure that the finance department allocates Rs3.978 billion in the budget for the financial year 2017-18 to buy the desired stuff and ensure patients’ care at the tehsil and district level.

The letter has cited the directives of the chief justice of Pakistan during a case on April 19, 2018 wherein he had instructed for availability of the missing equipment at tehsil and district headquarters hospitals to provide better services to patients, especially to those requiring emergency care.

Required items to be provided to tehsil, district hospitals on directives of CJ

The department had submitted a report regarding availability of equipment at the hospitals on April 26, 2018 wherein it had been brought into the notice of the court that a special grant of Rs3 billion had been secured from for procurement of essential equipment for all basic health units, rural health centers, THQs and DHQs in the province. More than 700 equipments had been purchased recently. The department, it elaborated, had carried out an exercise to determine the need for the desired equipments after which the items were purchased within the parameters of available funds and dire requirements.

However, the chief justice ordered an assessment of availability of equipment in accordance with the lists prepared by noted cardiologist retired Lt Gen Dr Azhar Mahmood Kayani, after which a detailed report of the prescribed equipment and actual presence and requirement of all DHQs and THQs was presented. To fulfil the requirements of the hospitals, the health department had listed 21 most essential and life-saving items in line with the directives of the chief justice.

It said that chief justice was assured that a case was being submitted to government through the chief secretary for allocation of the amount in the coming fiscal year 2018-19 and urgent procurement would be made.

Health Secretary Abid Majeed has requested that formal orders in this regard may kindly be placed on record to the finance department for allocation of this amount in the next budget to strengthen the health facilities as per the directives of the court. The equipment including endoscope, incubators, pediatric ventilators, ultrasound and ECG machines, portable ventilators, nebulisers, defibrillators, cardiac monitors, temporary pacemaker, bronchoscope and echocardiography machine etc are desperately required.

Sources said that health department was struggling to fill the gaps and put in place the required facilities in the district level hospitals. They said that health facilities were built by previous governments without taking into account the need for equipments and human resources.

They said that the department provided deficient equipments and human resources to the district hospitals lately and was then trying to further strengthen them in line with court’s orders to provide better services to the people.

Sources said that without proper equipment and human resources, the situation with regard to patients’ care couldn’t be improved. They said that situation already showed sign of improvement with the recruitment of doctors, nurses and paramedics with enhanced salary packages. They added that the requested equipment would enable the district hospitals to provide secondary as well as tertiary care to the people.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2018