LAHORE: Paying tribute to the staffers of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital (SKMH) over their services, management and behavior to patients, Prime Minister Imran Khan here on Saturday vowed to introduce SKMH-like system in public hospitals across the country.
Addressing an Iftar dinner and fund raising ceremony at SKMH in Lahore, PM Imran announced to improve the standard of public hospitals at par with private hospitals.
He said, “Unless government hospitals are improved people cannot avail better healthcare facilities.”
The prime minister said that no system in the world could work without punishment and reward and reiterated the government’s commitment to improve public health institutions by implementing reward and punishment system and hiring better qualified health professionals.
PM Imran said, “Free treatment is provided to 75 to 80 percent of patients at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital.” He said that every patient at the Shaukat Khanum was VIP and added that there was no discrimination between paying and free patients.
Read More: Doctors’ strike in Punjab enters into 10th day
Earlier in the day, Grand Health Alliance of Punjab doctors continued their protest on Saturday for the tenth day across all government hospitals against the Medical Teaching Institutions (MTI) Reform Act.
As per details, paramedical staff and nurses shut down the out-patient departments (OPD) of public hospitals in all major cities, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, Rahim Yar Khan, Sargodha, and Faisalabad, to protest the proposed privatisation of the government-run hospitals.
In few hospital, doctors have also closed the laboratories as well, ARY News reported.