Daily Times

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervez Khattak directed Health Department to improve the quality of work by providing facilities to all the hospitals of the province.

He asked Divisional Monitory Team of Health Department to ensure surprise visits to district headquarters hospitals all over province particularly Haripur Hospital.

During the visit monitoring team find the overall management of the hospital unsatisfactory, held the Medical Superintendent responsible for the mismanagement and gave him a deadline of one month to streamline the overall management of the hospital.

It merits a mention here that on the special directives of the Chief Minister the Health Department has directed the divisional monitors of its Independent Monitory Unit to undertake visits to government hospitals in their jurisdiction on immediate basis and to submit report to the high ups so that in the light of the monitory reports necessary measures be taken to remove the deficiencies in these hospitals with the aim to further improve patients care.

On poor cleanliness and sanitation of the hospital, the team also deducted salaries of the concerned staff. The eight member team was led by the head of Divisional Monitoring Teams Dr Khalid.

According to the report of the monitoring team submitted to health department, proper medicine store was not available in the hospital, cleanliness condition was not satisfactory, centralized Health Management Information System (HMIS) was not functional and as such patients were being issued manual receipts, space for patients in plead wards was insufficient while no autoclave in the entire hospital was functional.

The monitoring team held the medical superintendent of the hospital solely responsible for all this mismanagement and asked team to put the management issues of the hospital on right track with in a period of one month. The team has also submitted its recommendations to the health department for necessary measures to provide Image Intensifier, Chemical and Hematology Analyzers needed in the hospital.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister’s Monitoring Team visited the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital (Kath) and asked patients regarding treatment services and supply of medicines.

“The chief minister wants quality health services to patients at public sector hospitals and we not only checked stocks of medicines but also asked patients about services being provided to patients,” Dr Khalid, the Additional Director General Health, told reporters after visiting the Kath on Wednesday.

Dr Javed Tanoli, the medical superintendent of Kath, briefed the monitoring team about the hospital and services being provided to patients there.

The team, including officials of the district administration and communication and works, visited men, women and children’s wards, situated in a nursing hostel since the 2005 earthquake.

Khalid visited operation theatres, medicine, X-ray department, lavatories of each ward and offices and indigenously assembled insulator where used syringes and waste was being disposed of securely.

“Whatever my local surveillance teams have communicated to us after their frequent visits here, I checked all that problems and issues thoroughly and wherever machines and equipment are found faulty or lacking would either be replaced or repaired without any further delay as we want quality treatment services for the patients,” said Dr Khalid.