KARACHI: Chief Secretary Sindh, Asif Hyder Shah, presided over a  meeting today to address the urgent need for upgrading the emergency wards in public hospitals across Sindh.

The meeting, attended by senior health officials including the Secretary of Health Rehan Iqbal Baloach, Executive Director of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) Professor Shahid Rasool, Executive Director of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Trauma Centre Dr. Muhammad Sabir Memon, MS Dr. Ruth K.M PFAU Civil Hospital Syed Khalid Bukhari, Director of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital Dr. Faisal Samdani, and other key administrators, focused on enhancing the quality and efficiency of emergency healthcare services in the province.

Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah emphasized that the vision of Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah is to implement comprehensive reforms in the health sector by introducing people-centric interventions .

He highlighted that these reforms aim to improve the accessibility and efficiency of emergency healthcare services, ensuring that the growing demand for such services is met effectively across the province.

During the meeting, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah presented findings from a detailed data collection exercise conducted across major hospitals in Karachi. The data revealed the staggering number of patients being treated in the emergency departments of these hospitals.

For instance, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) handles approximately 2,000 patients daily, with a monthly total of around 60,000 patients. Similarly, Dr. Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital receives 1,800 patients daily, with 54,000 patients each month.

Other hospitals, such as Sindh Government Lyari General Hospital and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Institute of Trauma, also report high patient volumes daily. In total, the hospitals in Sindh are managing nearly 10,000 emergency patients each day, amounting to more than 299,400 patients every month.

Acknowledging the overwhelming patient numbers, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah stressed the urgency of upgrading emergency wards across all major hospitals in Sindh, including district and tehsil hospitals, to cope with the increasing demand.

He assured the hospital administrations that the Sindh government would provide necessary support in terms of human resource hiring, financial resources, and the procurement of medical equipment to ensure the success of these upgrades.

The hospital administrators welcomed this initiative and shared their recommendations based on the specific needs of their respective facilities. Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah directed them to submit detailed plans outlining the steps necessary for upgrading the emergency wards, which would be reviewed for swift approval to ensure a rapid and effective transformation of emergency healthcare services across Sindh.

The Chief Secretary reiterated the Sindh government's unwavering commitment to the well-being of its citizens by improving healthcare services, particularly in emergencies, to provide timely and high-quality medical attention.

The planned upgrades to the emergency wards are expected to significantly enhance the province’s healthcare capacity, ultimately benefiting the people of Sindh, especially in critical medical situations.

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 12 2024

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