Shifa Foundation to conduct capacity building of doctors

Health minister says department is working to ensure MSDS in hospitals of Punjab

LAHORE: Punjab Primary and Secondary Health Minister Khawaja Imran Nazir has said that the Health Department was working speedily to ensure Minimum Service Delivery Standards (MSDS) in District Headquarter and Tehsil Headquarter Hospitals of Punjab.

He said that good quality medicines were being provided free of cost to the patients in the health facilities. Previously, it was  just a dream for a poor patient to get quality medicine without money from hospitals, he added.

He stated this while addressing the signing ceremony of memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Punjab Primary and Secondary Health Department and Shifa Foundation /Al-Shifa International. MoU was signed by the Health Secretary Ali Jan Khan and Shifa Foundation Trust Executive Director Syed Faraz Hassan. Technical Additional Secretary Dr Asim Altaf, IRMNCH Director Dr Mukhtar Hussain Syed, medical superintendent, Attock Hospital DHQ Dr Sultan, senior officers of the department and members of Shifa Foundation were also present in the ceremony.

According to this MoU, Shifa Foundation would extend technical cooperation and expertise for the capacity building of doctors and other staff on international standards. Moreover, Shifa Foundation would provide guidelines and evolve a system for accreditation of Joint Commission International (JCI) to DHQ Hospital Attock. The foundation would also help prepare guidelines and evolve system for minimum service delivery standards for Primary and Secondary Health Hospitals for which a software would also be prepared.

Shifa Foundation Chairman Dr Manzoor Qazi informed that only two hospitals in Pakistan; Aga Khan Hospital and Al-Shifa International, have JCI accreditation so far. On this occasion, Health Secretary Ali Jan Khan said that this MoU would help to improve the quality of services in government hospitals and bring them according to international standards.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2017.