PAKPATTAN: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Friday paid a surprise visit to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Pakpattan, weeks after 20 children died in one week at the facility, and ordered the arrest of senior officials for “criminal negligence”.
During her visit, patients and their families voiced serious complaints regarding mismanagement, negligence, and the unavailability of medicines at the hospital.
Taking immediate action, the chief minister directed that CEO Health Pakpattan and DHQ’s Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Adnan Ghaffar be booked and arrested for their role in the crisis.
She also ordered for immediate appointment of a new MS from Sahiwal to the hospital.
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Pakpattan’s Deputy Commissioner also came under fire for not addressing the overcharging of parking fee and non-availbility of medicines at the hospital.
Maryam Nawaz removed the DC from charge, and directed for carrying out an audit of all hospital equipment.
She was visibly angered by reports that patients were being forced to buy medicines from outside despite medicines being available in storage. “We are spending Rs100 billion on medicines. Why are patients not getting them?” she asked, expressing dismay over the absence of public announcements for free medicine distribution.
Maryam Nawaz responded strongly to additional reports of overcharging and private lab malpractice. She ordered the arrest of the parking contractor for overcharging patients and their families, dismissed three lab technicians for collusion with private labs, and sealed three private labs operating in coordination with hospital staff.
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THe chief minister visited various wards, stores, and laboratories in the hospital, speaking directly with patients and attendants to check on the quality of care.
She was also outraged over the use of air conditioning in staff offices while patients in wards suffered in the heat. She ordered the implementation of ‘code red and code blue systems’ in all public hospitals and banned the use of mobile phones by on-duty medical staff, directing that a pager system be introduced instead.
The chief minister emphasised that “the real criminals are those in our institutions who don’t do their jobs”, and urged staff to look at other people’s children as their own.
“Criminal negligence is no less than murder,” she said during her visit. “One does not need a weapon to kill — neglect can be just as fatal.”
NEGLIGENCE BEHIND DEATHS OF 20 CHILDREN
It may be noted that Maryam Nawaz’s visit comes in the wake of an inquiry into the deaths of 20 children at the DHQ Pakpattan that revealed serious failures in hospital management.
Between June 16 and 22, at least 20 children had died in the hospital’s paediatric ward, five of them in a single day.
Commissioner Sahiwal had formed a three-member committee comprising officials from Sahiwal Teaching Hospital and the Health Department, which cited untrained staff, lack of supervision, and unused medical equipment in its report as major causes of the tragedy.
The committee found that the MS failed to fulfil basic administrative responsibilities, while staff in the paediatric intensive care unit lacked essential training.
It also found that senior consultants at the hospital were neglecting their duties, including night rounds.
Shockingly, the report states that vital equipment, including paediatric incubators, was available in the hospital’s storeroom but had not been put to use. The delay in treating critically ill children was attributed to the indifference of doctors and staff.
The report also noted that the DHQ Hospital in Pakpattan was not adhering to the standards set by the Punjab Healthcare Commission, nor were emergency protocols being followed.