LAHORE - The Punjab Assembly on Wednesday came down hard on the Health Department which obliged the speaker not only to summon the Services Hospital medical superintendent but to invoke Standing Committee on Health to take cognizance of what was going on in the public hospitals.
The second day of 38th session of the Assembly on the government business day was chaired by Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal and for some time by Dr Asad Ashraf. The house took five adjournment motions on different issues and had on agenda the presentation of as many as 12 bills, including one on the Local Government Punjab (Amendment) 2012, and three others for reconsideration and passage, which all could not be taken up last day when session was adjourned till 10am Thursday.
The most conspicuous feature of the last day proceedings was of unison voice on both sides against the Punjab Health Department as after PML-N Member Tayyaba Zamir narrated the pathetic story of the death of her only son some three months ago, allegedly due to negligence of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital staff, other members also told the house their own ‘torturous’ experiences at the public hospitals.
Tayyaba while crying buckets grieved that her young son died due to the fact he was not timely put on ventilator and the alleged delay of 10 hours and late treatment factored his death. She said the chief minister had ordered inquiry into the matter but no clue is available as to its outcome and she urged the Chair to get the matter probed and report be called within three days and award due punishment to delinquent persons. The lady member said hospitals had become ‘slaughter houses’ and people would tend to take law into their hands when justice is not done to them. Her tale brought a wave of sadness in the house.
Law Minister Rana Sanaullah tried to satisfy the member with a promise to contact the health secretary the same day and know about the outcome of the inquiry. He said if any deliberate negligence was found, the responsible persons would be duly taken to task.
Another member from the Treasury gave account of his own experience of the same day at the Services Hospital when he said, he could not get emergency treatment despite waiting for three hours, and highlighted the respect the members of the Assembly command at the hand of the doctors in the hospitals. He said what a layman would be getting the treatment when no regard is there for the members. Tanvir Ashraf Kaira of the PPP sharing grief of Tayyaba said that her son in fact, fell prey to ‘malpractice’ at the hospitals which the government was fostering by way of hiding wrongs of the doctors and officers.
He cited the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) medicines case and said a few doctors were suspended over the death of hundreds on account of spurious medicines and no solid measures were adopted to prevent reoccurrence of the negligence. If persons continue to be protected like this, the system would never be set right, he added.
Shaikh Allauddin of the Forward Bloc also told the house about what treatment his staff member received at the PIC despite his efforts to get him proper treatment. He said committees cannot address the situation for which either health care needs to be privatised or a social system evolved to make the people get proper treatment against payment.
Another member of PPP Umza Bokhari said she took her son whose arm was broken to the Services Hospital but the staff there told her to come after four days as no doctor in the relevant field was available. After the members voiced for rendering the issue to Standing Committee of Health and the Chair agreed besides seeking appearance of the Services Hospital medical superintendent at his chamber in the morning next day.
On an adjournment motion of Shaikh Allauddin on the environmental degradation on account of cement factories in the historic valley of Kahun and Katas near Chawwa Saiden Shah, Chakwal, the law minister said environmental department was conducting a study in these areas and would present recommendations within a month on arresting the deteriorating condition. He also supported the idea of imposing a specific levy on the cement factories and spending that money on controlling environmental degradation in those parts.
The minister sought time till next week on another motion presented by Nighat Nasir Sheikh for retrieving house and chillagah of Hazrat Mian Mir Sahib (RA) at Sadar Bazar Anarkali, where a dozen of shops have been set up. The house pended another motion presented by Khalid Saleem Bhatti against the alleged illegal and without merit appointment of Division Public School principal being run under the direct control of the DCO in PP-233 Vehari. The mover said the principal was overage and non-Muslim whereof a severe resentment is found among the people of the area but the DCO is protecting the lady principal.
The house disposed of another motion from Dr Samia Amjad, Khadija Umar and Qamar Amir when the law minister assured the house that notices have been served on the private schools which were not following the Punjab government directive for commencing summer vacation from June 1 and action would be taken against the defiant schools.