Health workers to receive allowances in Sindh

Infected medical staff to be allowed to receive treatment at private hospitals

KARACHI: The Sindh health department announced on Thursday an allowance for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers working on the frontline in the ongoing pandemic.

Meeting representatives of Pakistan Paediatric Association, Sindh Healthcare Commission (SHCC), National Institute of Child Health and Pakistan Islamic Medical Association, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho apprised them that healthcare officials who had contracted the coronavirus would be allowed to seek treatment from private hospitals on the expense of the government.



Moreover, she stated that there had been complaints about some private hospitals demanding coronavirus test results before taking patients into the emergency wards, asserting that action would be taken against any hospitals who were refusing to treat patients in this manner.

Pechuho further instructed the SHCC to set up a complaint cell for the purpose, adding that the authorities would also act against health facilities failing to provide safety kits to their staff.

Referring to complaints about healthcare staff being laid off, she termed such actions regrettable. "We are setting up an information desk at the SHCC, where the staff of private hospitals can contact the authorities and inform them about their problems,” she stated.

Meanwhile, she added, it would be possible to get information about which health facilities had available beds and ventilators from the Aman Ambulance Service via phone.