SAHIWAL: Mirza Gulam Hussain (48), a resident of Civil Lines Colony, is a worker registered with the Social Security Hospital (SSH), Old Harappa Road, by a renowned local geyser making unit. He is diabetic and for the last one year, he has been regularly taking free insulin doses and syringes from the hospital. His insulin dose runs for two weeks.

Mirza’s employer company monthly deposits Rs1,000 each with the social security hospital for provision of medical facilities to its workers. After Eid holidays, Mirza visited the hospital to get his insulin dose but he was informed by the officials that the hospital had been converted to a mini-hospital/dispensary and they would be unable to provide him with insulin in the future.

Same is the story of Muhammad Akram (55), who avails the facility as a dependent of a worker of a transport company registered with social security. He has also been directed to buy insulin from the market.

PESSI move to affect 67,000 workers, their dependents

In an unpredictable move, the Punjab Employees Social Security Institution (PESSI) has ‘redesignated’ the status of its hospital into a mini-hospital and brought it back to the status of dispensary during the first week of this month.

It is learnt that the decision was made in the 150th governing body meeting of the society security institution in Lahore. The higher-ups in the PESSI claim that conversion of the hospitals in Jhang, Kasur and Sahiwal was done under a ‘rationalisation’ policy. However, this unilateral bureaucratic act will deprive standardised health facilities to 57,397 dependents of 9,741 registered industrial labours/workers of 1,616 small, medium and large industrial units in three districts of Sahiwal division – Pakpattan, Sahiwal and parts of Okara. Not a single stakeholder was consulted before ‘redesignating and rationalising’ an efficiently running and established hospital providing healthcare to 300 to 350 workers and their dependents per day. It is learnt that the hospital has been providing free insulin worth Rs1.45m to workers and their dependents every year.

After establishment of small industrial estate and emerging small/medium industrial units during the 1980s, the Punjab government had developed the first Social Security Dispensary in Sahiwal district. During the past 38 years, its status was upgraded in different stages; first into a mini-hospital (1988), Inquiry Treatment Centre (2000) and Social Security Medical Centre (2011). Later, Malik Nadeem Kamran, former Planning and Development Minister, brought Rs300m for converting the medical centre into a 10-bed Social Security Hospital on Dec 22, 2016. The new building was built on three kanal land, owned by the hospital.

Dawn talked to many registered workers who said the hospital was running successfully, having facilities like gyne, outpatient department (OPD), emergency, ambulance, operating theatre, clinical diagnostic lab, ENT, pediatrics, radiology, dental treatment, ultrasound, air-conditioned ward and ECG. The hospital had also hired its own private security staff.

Data of the last three years shows 3,000 to 4,000 workers and their dependents were getting treatment in the hospital an average every month while the bed occupancy ratio was between 55 to 60pc.

“The hospital was serving the workers/labourers registered with 1,616 units in Pakpattan, Arifwala, Chichawatni, Harappa, Qadirabad Coal Power Plant, transport companies, Engro Foods, Leather Coordinator, Sadiq Oil Mills, Small Industrial Estate etc,” a senior staff informed Dawn.

The budget of the hospital last year was Rs60.68m while Rs10.9m were contributed by the employers. The hospital has a sanctioned strength of 64 regular staff while 10 sanctioned posts were lying vacant in various categories.

Sources said after ‘redesignation’ of the hospital, not only 10 vacant posts were abandoned but many posts were slashed during the past two weeks. They included the posts of a medical superintendent, four specialists, two medical officers, seven dispensers, three ward boys, six nurses, one driver, one LHV, two X-rays technicians, two laboratory assistants, one computer operator and one naib qasid.

Dr Nadeem Yaqoob, in-charge of the hospital, told Dawnit it would be difficult to run a hospital with existing staff for 9,741 workers and their 57,397 dependents.

A source, close to the development, told this scribe it was a PESSI policy decision discussed in the 150th meeting that a 25-bed hospital should be set up in any district or division where more than 5,000 workers were registered with it.

However, it is a big question that if the 10-bed Social Security Hospital in Sahiwal is successfully facilitating about 67,000 people, why it has been converted into a dispensary without consulting the local stakeholders, instead of increasing its capacity to 25 beds directly.

Dr Nasir Jamal Pashsa, the medical administrator of the PESSI, Lahore, said that Minister for Labour Ansar Majeed Khan Niazi had recently formed a review committee that would address the issues in the aftermath of the ‘redesignation of SSHs in Punjab’.

Dawn talked to many local registered workers and hospital staff who demanded the PESSI restore the previous status of the hospital and reverse the rationalization policy.

“It will be difficult for the workers to meet their day-to-day medical needs at the local private medical centres,” Mirza Gulam Hussain said.

MPA Malik Nadeem Kamran termed the PESSI’s move of withdrawing the hospital facility from divisional headquarters and its conversion into a dispensary unjust. He said if the PTI provincial government could not increase health facilities for registered workers, it should not withdraw the existing facilities. He demanded an upgrade of the hospital into a 25-bed hospital.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2021

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