The Committee on Public Accounts (PAC) under the Chairmanship of MLA Sham Lal Sharma today inspected various healthcare institutions in Jammu city to assess the infrastructural facilities and overall medicare being provided to the people there.
Pertinently, the Committee had decided to conduct this two day on spot visit to various health institutions of Jammu division following examination of pending CAG paras pertaining to Health Department in the meeting held at Assembly Secretariat last week.
The Committee visited GMC Jammu, Bone & Joint Hospital Jammu, Super Speciality Hospital Jammu, State Cancer Institute Jammu, Drug Controller Office J&K Jammu, Directorate of AYUSH Jammu and Ayushman Bharat.
Members of the Committee including Mubarik Gul, Nazir Ahmad Khan (Gurezi), Qaysar Jamshaid Lone, Altaf Ahmed Wani (Kaloo), Javid Hassan Baig, Dr. Devinder Kumar Manyal, Sajad Shaheen and Muzaffar Iqbal Khan were also present during the visit.
The Committee, during its visit to Government Medical College Jammu, held a meeting with Dr. Syed Abid Rashid, Secretary Health and Medical Education, Principal, GMC, Dr. Ashutosh Gupta and other HoDs of GMC.
Principal GMC presented an overview of healthcare facilities available in the GMC, staff strength, laboratories, latest operation theaters and other utilities.
Later, Principal Government Dental College Jammu, HODs of different branches of GMC and its associate hospitals briefed the Committee about the working and issues being faced by them. They also highlighted other development activities of GMC and their associated hospitals.
The Chairman and the members of the PAC gave patient hearing to them and expressed their concern regarding shortage of staff in health institutions. The members also gave suggestions about further development and streamlining of health infrastructure in Jammu.
At Bone & Joint Hospital Jammu, the Committee visited Spinal and Orthopedics wards and enquired about the facilities being extended to patients there. The concerned authorities apprised the Committee of working of the hospital.
At Super Speciality Hospital Jammu, the Committee inspected the Cath Lab and ICU.
At State Cancer Institute Jammu, the Committee visited and examined department of Nuclear Medicine PET-CT Scan Console Room and Department of Radiation Oncology and department of Medical physics (Brachytherapy).
During the inspections, the Chairman of the Committee and other members took stock of health infrastructure and medical facilities available in these hospitals. The Committee also examined developmental infrastructures in these health institutions.
At Directorate of AYUSH Jammu, the Committee also held a meeting with the officers of Directorate of AYUSH and examined the working of the hospital. It had feed back on physical and financial achievements.
The Chairman and the members of PAC gave suggestions to further strengthen the AYUSH hospital.
Director AYUSH, Dr Nuzhat Bashir Shah also briefed about the activities of the hospital.
At Drug Controller Office Jammu, State Drug Controller, Lotika Khajuria briefed the Committee about overview of statutory Drug Samples lifting and reported the details of drug samples lifted/declared NSQ or Misbranded during the last three financial years.
The Committee inspected HPLC technique which is used to separate the combination of drugs into their pure form. It visited the Combined Food & Drug Laboratory (Drug Testing Laboratory) and Micro Laboratory.
During the visit to SHA, Ayushman Bharat, PMJAY, the Committee expressed concern over the pending payments/liabilities in various cases under Ayushman Scheme.
The Chief Executive Officer, Ayushman Bharat displayed a presentation about the working of prestigious scheme including it's proper implementation, overall performance and number of beneficiaries covered under this scheme.
While inspecting these health institutions, the Committee gave several directions to further improve the healthcare facilities being provided to the patients there.