Hospital emergency wards await facelift

Health department plans to revamp all state-run facilities

LAHORE: The health department has taken the initiative to give all emergency wards of state-run hospitals a new look and is ready to launch the pilot project this month, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has been taking keen interest in the development of emergency wards in all hospitals and they would be functional soon, according to Mayo Hospital Chief Executive Officer Dr Asad Aslam.

“The emergency wards will have all modern equipment just like a state-of-art facility. The wards will be run under the supervision of senior professors,” he said. “We have sent project cost summary to the health department and we will purchase modern equipment needed for the emergency departments.”



He, however, added he did not know how long it would take to get the approval for the PC-1 from the planning and development department.

Mayo Hospital’s Dr Salman Kazmi told The Express Tribune that a separate emergency department would be established at all the teaching hospitals of the province on the pattern of Turkish Emergency Model.

New posts

A number of new posts such as professor of emergency, associate professor of emergency and other vacancies would be created, he said, adding that attractive salary packages would also be offered to those appointed on these posts.

“The emergency wards will be equipped with all modern security cameras. One patient will have only one attendant to avoid any untoward incident in the hospital,” Dr Salman said.

He added the emergency wards would work in close coordination with other departments to further facilitate patients.

Talking about working hours, he said doctors would work in three shifts and each shift would be of eight hours. In case of emergency, they could be requested to work at least 12 hours.

After the approval of PC-1, the government would provide all resources for hiring new staff, procurement of equipment and other facilities, he said.

Requirements

According to an estimate, 40 and 50 casualties are reported every day at the emergency rooms of Mayo and Jinnah hospitals, respectively. Similar numbers are recorded at almost every state-run facility in Punjab.

Dr Salman said about 10,000 patients are treated daily at the emergency and general wards of hospitals in Lahore, nearly twice the number of beds available.

The Mayo Hospital’s emergency ward has 210 beds for a daily inflow of 3,000 patients, while the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) has 16 beds for over 50 patients. The Services Hospital and Sar Ganga Ram Hospital both have 80 beds each for 500 patients.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 9^th, 2017.