The Services hospital is a medical center in Lahore, Pakistan. It is located on Jail Road and is the teaching hospital for the Services Institute of Medical Sciences. The recent fire that devastated the center caused immense damage. Aside from the fire, other issues that led to the calamity include overcrowding, lack of treatment slips, and knowledge management practices.
Overcrowding
There is a growing problem of overcrowding in services hospitals, especially those in the developing world. The sheer number of patients has led to a significant increase in the number of beds in emergency rooms worldwide, and this problem is not limited to Pakistan. There are, also limited resources, which has resulted in a significant increase in ER overcrowding in Pakistan.
One of the ways to relieve this problem is to contract out the provision of basic healthcare services. In Pakistan, the People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI) contracts out the management of 2490 basic health units to a nonprofit organization. The initiative began in the mid-2000s, during district devolution in the Punjab province. At the time, the provincial health department was not equipped to provide health services to the poor. The provincial Planning and Development Department stepped in and worked with an NGO to implement a unique contract for primary care facilities.
In Pakistan, the primary responsibility for providing health services lies with provincial governments. The role of provincial governments is to manage, plan, finance, and train medical professionals. However, the federal ministry is involved in building large hospitals and medical colleges. In this context, it is imperative to focus on efficiency and leveraging the private sector for public health goals.
The situation in government hospitals is becoming worse every day. There are not enough beds, fewer doctors, and inadequate infrastructure. As a result, one staff member is responsible for as many as 30 patients at a time. Further, there are problems with the quality of the care provided in these government hospitals.
Both Balochistan and Sindh provinces have made commitments to integrate their health systems. In fact, both provinces have approved the development of an essential package of health services. However, they have not yet moved forward with the implementation of this plan. Nevertheless, it is a positive step for the overall health of the people in the province.
Another barrier to health care services is the cost of transportation. Many clients in remote areas prefer to give birth at home due to high transportation costs and inconvenience. In addition, transport costs vary greatly from district to district. In Sindh, it costs between three and six thousand Pakistani rupees to go to the city for obstetric care.
Lack of treatment slips
A lack of treatment slips at Services Hospital Lahore led to the death of a patient on January 14. The incident occurred in an emergency room when Hamid, a 30-year-old man, walked into the emergency room on January 14. After almost an hour, the duty doctors had to leave him unattended and he died. Medics then produced a new admission slip with the date 6:43am and simultaneously issued a death certificate declaring the patient “received dead.” The incident was captured on CCTV footage and the medical staff is being directed to investigate.
The health department has recommended that the doctors involved in the incident be penalised for their actions. Dr Imran, Dr Salman Sarwar, and Dr Mahmoodul Hassan may be barred from practice, suspended from their training, and their registration. The department may also transfer the doctors from Services Hospital as a result of the incident. Under the PEEDA Act 2006, the health department may take major action against these doctors.
In addition to this, the Chief Minister has ordered the Punjab government to provide free medical treatment to poor people in the hospital. The government is investing billions of rupees to provide quality healthcare services to the people. The government provides free treatment in emergency wards, and even expensive medicines are provided free of cost.
According to the report, Punjab and Services hospitals did not issue proper treatment slips to patients. The audit report also revealed that the doctors did not examine patients before administering medicines. Additionally, the PAC did not recover treatment charges from government employees. This is an indication that the health system in Punjab is not properly functioning.
As a result, patients are at risk of being, disrespected by the doctors. This is even worse if they are low-profile. The doctors are less interested in helping patients of low-status. In addition, doctors avoid complicated cases. Complex cases are referred to other hospitals.
Knowledge management practices
This study explores the knowledge management practices of doctors working in Services Hospital Lahore, a leading health care organization in Pakistan. The study focused on the ways doctors share knowledge, capture it, and use it to improve their own and their colleagues’ clinical outcomes. The study found that doctors in this hospital use a variety of methods to share knowledge, including social media networks.
The implementation of KM is currently in its infancy in Pakistan. It has several barriers affecting its adoption. This article identifies and discusses these barriers and examines how they influence each other. The barriers to knowledge management adoption in healthcare organizations in Pakistan are, discussed. The analysis reveals that some barriers are related to each other, while others are independent of each other.
The study involved 62 medical officers from Lahore, Pakistan. It started with a pretested questionnaire that collected information on physicians’ knowledge and practice. After that, all respondents attended a one-day workshop and received reminders by SMS. The pre and post-intervention knowledge and practice scores were, compared using the same questionnaire. The results were, analyzed using Pearson’s correlation analysis.
The participants of this study were, recruited from services hospital Lahore and Jinnah Hospital. These nurses had at least one year of experience. Participants included diploma holders, post-RN nurses, and BSN nurses. However, pregnant nurses were, excluded from the study. Data were, analyzed using SPSS version 20 and presented in tabular form.
The results showed that only a few respondents said their hospital had a strategy for promoting continuing education. In addition, 70 percent reported that it had regular training sessions. Many respondents thought that more training was necessary for improving their skills. One third of respondents did not believe their hospital had an employee retention strategy. These results suggest that knowledge management practices are important for the healthcare industry in Pakistan.
