Recruitment process of 400 docs completed, says minister
Punjab Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh on Saturday announced that the state government has completed the recruitment process of 400 new doctors who will start providing services in civil and sub-divisional hospitals by December. Apart from this, out of the newly recruited 980 ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife), appointment letters have been given to 580.
Interacting with media persons while reviewing the health facilities at Kapurthala Civil Hospital here today, the Health Minister said, “Punjab government has made a comprehensive plan for the transformation of civil and sub-divisional hospitals, which includes recruitment of doctors, nursing staff, better emergency services and renovation of hospital buildings.” He said that Patiala, Mohali, Jalandhar and Ludhiana Civil Hospitals have witnessed complete overall development and work at Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala will start soon.
The Health Minister also announced that to provide emergency services in a more effective manner, ‘Patient Facilitation Centres’ are being set up in the hospitals, under which a dedicated team of doctors and support staff will treat the patients who come in emergency cases.
Explaining the process of taking feedback from patients to improve health services, the Health Minister said that special teams will collect information from people who come for treatment about the facilities or problems encountered in the hospital so that the problems can be resolved.
In response to a question about the maintenance of hospitals, the Health Minister said that the Punjab government is considering deputing ‘facility managers’ who will be responsible for day to day upkeep so that the doctors in the district and sub-divisional hospitals will be able to focus completely on the treatment of patients.
The Health Minister also said that necessary funds have been released to establish an ICU at the Civil Hospital, Kapurthala and it will be fully operational soon. He congratulated the winning candidates of AAP in the Punjab by-elections and said, “It was the result of development-oriented and people’s welfare politics by Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. With this victory, the Punjab government will strive to serve the people of the state with more dedication.”
The Health Minister visited the Drug De-Addiction Centre, ICU and emergency ward at the Civil Hospital, interacted with the patients and obtained information about the health facilities. He directed the Civil Surgeon to pay special attention to the cleanliness of the Civil Hospital.
Taking up the issue of security arrangements at the Civil Hospital seriously, the Health Minister asked the SSP Kapurthala to increase patrolling and also install CCTV cameras to prevent incidents of theft.
