Health Minister Pledges to Upgrade Healthcare Access Nationwide

LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique conducted a surprise inspection of Allama Iqbal Memorial Teaching Hospital in Sialkot on Thursday, visiting critical departments including the Emergency ward, OPD, Operation Theaters, Medicine Store, and Chief Minister Complaints Cell. During the visit, he sharply criticized the hospital’s Medical Superintendent (MS) over excessive patient wait times in overcrowded OPDs and subpar sanitation conditions, demanding urgent corrective measures.

Rafique ordered the MS to prominently display lists of available medicines and doctors’ duty schedules across the facility to improve transparency and patient access. The minister’s unannounced inspection is part of a broader directive from Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who has prioritized overhauling government healthcare services.

“Medical Superintendents who fail to prioritize patient care will be removed immediately,” Rafique warned, stressing that negligence in public hospitals would not be tolerated. “We are here to serve the people, not excuses,” he added, acknowledging his respect for healthcare workers but underscoring the government’s mandate to ensure quality service delivery.

The minister revealed that daily inspections of government hospitals are now standard practice to gather direct patient feedback and enforce on-the-spot fixes. “No compromise will be made on treatment standards,” he asserted, vowing to address systemic inefficiencies, from staffing gaps to supply shortages.

The crackdown follows growing public frustration over deteriorating conditions in Punjab’s government hospitals, with CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s administration pushing for rapid improvements. Recent reports highlight issues such as medicine shortages, unhygienic facilities, and mismanagement, prompting the health minister’s aggressive stance.

Rafique’s visit underscores the province’s renewed focus on accountability and patient-centric reforms, signaling a zero-tolerance approach to bureaucratic inertia in the healthcare sector.