Lack of burn care infrastructure comes under scrutiny

LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Imran Nazir told the Punjab Assembly on Thursday that public hospitals across the province were facing a serious shortage of burn treatment facilities and specialists, making it difficult for patients with severe burn injuries to receive proper care.

Speaking during the assembly session, the minister said Punjab did not have enough burn specialists, although he noted that the province was in a comparatively better position in terms of the number of neurologists and gynaecologists.

He informed the house that the government had started work to increase the number of trained doctors in burn care. He also said plans were under way to set up fully functional burn units at district headquarters hospitals with specialist staff and modern facilities.

Healthcare concerns raised in assembly

The matter came up during a broader discussion on the state of public healthcare facilities and shortages of medicines in government hospitals.

During the debate, opposition lawmaker Zarnab Sher criticised what she described as the non-availability of medicines in DHQ hospitals. She said patients were being compelled to purchase medicines from private pharmacies and added that she had prescriptions to support her claim that medicines were unavailable in government facilities.

In reply, Khawaja Imran Nazir assured the assembly that medicine shortages identified in hospitals would be resolved.

Recruitment plan for doctors

The minister also announced that the Punjab government intended to hire 3,000 doctors across the province under a new system designed to stop politically motivated transfers and postings.

He said doctors appointed under the new arrangement would be assessed after one year through key performance indicators, or KPIs. According to the minister, the contracts of doctors who failed to meet the required standards would not be extended.

Other health initiatives

Highlighting other steps taken in the health sector, the minister said the government had set up 19,000 community health centres and posted community health inspectors at facilities that had previously been non-functional.

He further said field workers had been given digital tablets to strengthen monitoring and reporting in the healthcare system.

The discussion in the Punjab Assembly brought attention to both the shortage of specialised burn care and wider concerns about the condition of public health services in the province, including staffing and medicine availability.