LAHORE, Nov 12: The Health Department meeting chaired on Monday by Governor Lt-Gen Khalid Maqbool (retired) ended without setting a timeframe for the approval and enforcement of rules and regulations for autnomous medical colleges and the attached hospitals.

“The rules and regulations for the medical colleges and attached hospitals will be enforced in the near future,” a handout issued after the meeting quoted the governor as saying.

“It was the first meeting of the Health Department presided over by the new governor. He was given a thorough briefing on the issues and matters relating to the health services in the province. It is not fair for anyone to expect him to stamp his approval and enforce rules and regulations at once,” an official speaking to Dawn after the meeting said.

Six medical colleges and several hospitals attached with them have been granted autonomy since May 1998 under the Punjab Medical and Health Institutions Ordinance, 1998, issued by the then government on the pretext that the system in vogue could not provide the required facilities to the masses. The lack of governing rules and regulations, however, is stated to have hindered progress as far as provision of better facilities to patients is concerned.

According to the handout, the governor sanctioned an allocation of Rs2.6 billion for upgradation of 52 out of 67 tehsil headquarters hospitals in the province.

The funds would be utilized to recruit five specialist doctors, purchase equipment and provide residential facilities to the staff at these hospitals.

The briefing was also attended by chief executives of the Nishter and Rawalpindi Medical Colleges and Mayo Hospital.

The governor also said the government would soon establish a medical university in the province at a cost of Rs370 million.

He said although he was a great advocate of private enterprise, his government would closely monitor regulate the working of private hospitals. He said the government would not spare any effort to provide health facilities to the poor, especially in the rural Punjab.