Swat's Saidu Teaching Hospital to start services before July

K-P CM firm on provision of efficient public healthcare

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has said that the provincial government was going all out for the provision of efficient healthcare facilities throughout the province. The health department should immediately make functional the Saidu Teaching Hospital on war footings.

He said that his government wanted efficient healthcare in all the headquarter hospitals throughout the province and the provision of resources would never be a problem. He was presiding over a meeting at Chief Minister House, Peshawar.

Senior Member Board of Revenue, Secretary Health, Secretary Relief, Chief Executive Officer Saidu Group of Hospital and other attend the meeting. Hospital should be functional by the end of June and the resources allocated should be efficiently utilized and there should be strict financial discipline at all level of expenditure, he added.

Mahmood also directed to identify land for the Kidney Hospital Swat. He assured to approve the SNEs both for the Saidu Teaching Hospital and College.

He asked for completion of whole procurement process that included procuring the equipment, removing the weaknesses multiplying the strength, building lecture hall transport hostel and block etc.

It is unfortunate that none ever tried for the full operationalisation of Saidu Teaching Hospital during the last twelve years. Had the hospital equipped with all the facilities including the doctors, medical staff and machinery etc, the people should not have been at the receiving end of political differences, he added.

CM said the provincial government would provide everything within its reach for the immediate functionalisation of Saidu Hospital.

He directed to send the plan for central oxygen unit of Saidu Hospital for approval of the scheme. He directed to spend out the resources generated through self financing by the hospital and directed for transparent utilization of these resources adding that the provincial cabinet has already approved in its earlier meeting some of the items needed by the hospital.

However a summary in this regard should be moved to create new assets including the creation of posts and the construction work etc.

The provincial government has already given R500 million for the procurement of medicine and similar arrangements had already been made for other divisional headquarter hospitals.

The Health Department should work out a mechanism in this regard. Chief Minister directed for the categorization of hospitals by the health department adding that there should be a uniform standardisation approach for all the hospitals.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2019.