SMU report spurs hospital reforms

Following the inspection reports of three major government hospitals in Rawalpindi by the Special Monitoring Unit (SMU), which highlighted severe mismanagement, poor governance, and hardships faced by patients, corrective measures have now been initiated in all three facilities.

The Vice Chancellor of Rawalpindi Medical University chaired a meeting with the Medical Superintendents (MS) of the hospitals and directed them to submit complete reform reports to the Punjab government.

According to details, on the instructions of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the Special Monitoring Unit carried out a comprehensive inspection of Benazir Bhutto General Hospital (BBH), Holy Family Hospital (HFH), and Rawalpindi Teaching Hospital (RTH) on August 15. Separate reports were prepared for each hospital and submitted to the Chief Minister.

The reports pointed out multiple issues including poor sanitation systems, unavailability of medicines for patients, doctors prescribing medicines that patients had to buy from private markets, OPD timings not being followed, unhygienic conditions in pathology labs, absenteeism of doctors and staff, overcharging of food items at hospital canteens, lack of parking facilities, absence of waiting areas for patients and attendants, and staff members using mobile phones during duty hours.

It was also stated that the SMU had gathered complete evidence for all the issues highlighted. The unit recommended immediate corrective measures to improve service delivery in all three hospitals.

A meeting in this regard was held yesterday at Benazir Bhutto General Hospital under the chairmanship of Rawalpindi Medical University Vice Chancellor, Professor Dr Muhammad Umar. The meeting was attended by Benazir Bhutto General Hospital MS Dr Sharjeel Sarfraz Sheikh, Holy Family Hospital MS Dr Ijaz Butt, and Rawalpindi Teaching Hospital MS Dr Ikramullah.

According to sources, the Vice Chancellor directed all three MS to resolve the problems identified in the SMU reports, prepare reform reports for their respective hospitals, and submit them to the Punjab government. He emphasised that efforts must be made to continuously improve the healthcare system for patients.

Immediate redressal of patient complaints, uninterrupted provision of medicines, strict staff attendance, and improvements in the cleanliness system were stressed. The VC further instructed that all governance issues, internal monitoring, and discipline must be strengthened so that patients can be provided with a hassle-free and efficient healthcare system.

On Tuesday, the SMU had uncovered further serious shortcomings at the RTH, to the detriment of patients. The report cited mismanagement, inadequate facilities, and alleged financial improprieties behind the poor state of affairs of the hospital.

The report revealed that patients are routinely charged unlawful fees, surgical procedures are subjected to unnecessary delays, and an entry slip of Rs50 is demanded for admission to the labour room. Patients are compelled to undergo diagnostic tests at external laboratories at inflated costs, while acute shortages of medicines oblige attendants to purchase drugs privately.

The SMU also reported that expired medicines were found in the hospital pharmacy, sanitation arrangements were almost non-existent, and serious flaws were identified in record management. Many doctors and paramedical staff were found either absent or leaving duty prematurely.

The Unit had earlier conducted similar inspections at the BBH and the HFH, detecting mismanagement, misconduct, and corruption.