Improvement in healthcare: CM directs officials to ensure availability of medicines

Calls for upgrading hospitals as well as Basic Health Units

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has directed for ensuring presence of officials, availability of medicines along with allied facilities in the primary and secondary healthcare centres

The health department should upgrade DHQs, THQs, RHQs,hospitals as well as RHCs and BHUs on a war footing, he added.

He was presiding over a high level meeting at Chief Minister Secretariat Peshawar. Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Jahgra, Minister for health Hasham Inamullah, Minister for Information Shaukat Yousafzai, Chief Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch, Additional Chief Secretary Shehzad Bangash, Secretary Finance, DG Health and others also attended.

The CM was briefed about weaknesses in the healthcare system, the operationalisation of healthcare units of different categories, the provision of staff in different hospitals and the required resources to overcome these deficiencies.

Mahmood directed the health department to immediately resolve the problems indicated by the participants of the meeting and focus on the improvement of performance of administration and management.

He assured of provision of resources for the upgraded healthcare facilities throughout the province.

The chief minister was hopeful that the amendment in the Local Government Act would accelerate the flow of resources to be used in the healthcare unit within the given districts.

He further directed to focus on the full operationalisation of BHUs and resolve the problems in the health centre at local level so that the people could be the end beneficiaries  He also directed to focus on DHQs and RHCs to use them for the maximum benefit of the people.

The CM further directed the health department for the extension of Sehat Insaf Card to the seven new merged districts of erstwhile Fata into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He approved the National Health Reforms package for the new districts for a period of six months.  He also agreed to the extension of Sehat Insaf Card to cover the province’s population of 24 million.

Mahmood asked the concerned quarters to bring people friendly amendments in the overall health strategy, Task Force and MTI act.

He agreed to the overall strategy of the health department for establishment of 500 BHUs in the rural areas, DHUs in all districts and upgradation of the existing healthcare centers.  The meeting was informed about the categorisation of hospitals and the establishment of complaint redressal mechanism. The meeting was informed about the upgradation and improvement of 874 BHUs and 120 secondary hospitals.

Mahmood Khan said his government was committed to put on ground the hundred-day plan and the project proposed in the overall strategy would be put into the implementation phase. He reminded the participants to be mindful of the reality that these hospitals were established for the efficient healthcare of poor segment of society.

The chief minister directed to establish 200 BHUs on emergency basis in the province. The meeting was informed about the availability round the clock healthcare facilities in the BHUs and there would be two units in each BHUs would would be constantly monitored. 4,000 LHWs would be recruited.  The CM directed to discourage political interference in postings and transfers of doctors and other staff.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2018.