CM wants NICH upgraded to world class institute

Promises funds for health facility's uplift


National Institute of Child Health is a 500-bed hospital which provides health facilities to patients of Sindh and Balochistan. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: All necessary facilities will be provided to the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) in order to make it a world class institute.

Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said this while presiding over a meeting on the upgrading of the NICH at CM House on Thursday. The uplift of the health institute will also include an extended and upgraded building, the CM said.

Comparing the NICH with the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, the CM said the former needed improvements in its administrative affairs. The NICH needed appointment of specialists, creation of administrative cadre and construction of an additional block, Shah remarked.

The CM also approved Rs20 million for the purchase of 1,500-kilovolt generator and other equipment. "You can move a separate request for other funds and facilities, if it is needed," the CM said, addressing NICH Director Prof Syed Jamal Raza.

NICH is a 500-bed hospital and provides health facilities to patients of Sindh and Balochistan. Around 40% of patients admitted to the institute come from outside Karachi.

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During 2016, 126,184 patients were admitted to the NICH, Prof Raza said while making a presentation at the meeting. The NICH director briefed the meeting about various facilities at the institute which included tuberculosis clinic, asthma clinic, epilepsy clinic, paediatric nephrology clinic, paediatric endocrine clinic, paediatric diabetic clinic, paediatric dermatology clinic, paediatric dermatology clinic and paediatric haematology and oncology clinics.

The CM was informed that two surgical units with 80 beds were functioning at the institute. A 10-bed surgical intensive care unit and 20-bed burns ward was also there at the NICH.

As many as 429,111 patients had their medical tests conducted at the NICH laboratory in 2016, the CM was briefed.

There was a proposal to construct a new paediatric surgical complex on a two-acre plot of land adjacent to the institute, the meeting was informed. The complex, if established, would also have a rehabilitation centre along with departments for haematology, bone marrow transplantation and molecular genetics.

The meeting was informed that the land belonged to Pakistan Army Welfare Trust and its market value was around Rs1.12 billion. On this the CM directed his principal secretary to talk to the trust and request its management to support the cause of the hospital.

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The government was willing to pay the price of the land, the CM maintained.

The NICH director also requested Shah to sanction health allowance to the NICH staff as it was being offered to the staff of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. To this, the CM directed him to send a proposal for his approval. "I would be happy to reward your staff because they are doing good job," Shah said.

Prof Raza also took up the issue of promotions of the NICH staff from grade B-1 to B-17and fresh appointments of lower grade employees. The CM directed him to promote the employees whose promotions were due. The promotions must be made purely on merit, he cautioned.

The meeting was informed that there were 594 employees at the NICH while 280 positions were vacant.

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Shah directed Prof Raza to establish two satellite centres of the institute in Lyari in Karachi and Hyderabad. "I want you to upgrade the institute to the level of NICVD [National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases] and run it on that pattern," he said.

Extra budget would be provided to the institute for the construction of different blocks, the CM assured. He also directed creation of administrative positions at the NICH so that it could be run professionally.

The meeting was also attended by Health Minister Dr Sikandar Mandhro, Health Secretary Dr Fazlullah Pechuho, Principal Secretary to CM Sohail Rajput, and professors at NICH Khalid Mehmood and Jamshed Akhtar.

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