Punjab is set to move its public healthcare system into a fully digital era as Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz announced that hospitals across the province are being shifted to a paperless regime under wide-ranging digital health reforms.
Speaking at a conference of hospital Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Medical Superintendents (MSs) in Lahore, the chief minister administered an integrity and zero-corruption pledge to senior hospital officials, stressing that technology-driven governance would be key to improving patient care.
She said district and tehsil headquarters hospitals had already transitioned to paperless operations, while health facilitation services were being fully digitalized.
To strengthen oversight and accountability, the government has introduced Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for hospital leadership and rolled out a new Performance Evaluation Report (PER) system to monitor doctors’ performance.
As part of the reforms, Monitoring and Evaluation Assistants will be appointed, and dedicated administrators and procurement officers posted in hospitals to streamline operations. Emergency wards have also been connected to Safe City surveillance cameras, while strict curbs have been imposed on the use of mobile phones by doctors during duty hours.
Maryam Nawaz said the province’s health budget had jumped sharply from Rs. 399 billion to Rs. 630 billion. She revealed that over 1,500 doctors had been inducted into public hospitals and Rs. 22 billion in outstanding dues cleared to ensure uninterrupted supply of medicines.
The chief minister directed hospital administrations to ensure the availability of essential medicines, fully functional medical equipment, cleanliness, and efficient patient flow, including the introduction of color-coded triage bays.
She also announced a ban on pharmaceutical representatives inside hospitals and the deployment of vigilance teams to monitor healthcare facilities across Punjab.
Reiterating her vision, Maryam Nawaz said no resident of Punjab should be forced to travel to another city for treatment. She stressed that public hospitals primarily serve poor and vulnerable citizens and described patient care as a sacred responsibility. Hospital CEOs and MSs, she added, play a more critical role than ministers and secretaries in turning policies into real outcomes.
In a related development, the chief minister praised the successful completion of free heart surgeries for more than 10,000 children under the Chief Minister Children Heart Surgery Programme.
The beneficiaries included children from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, federal areas, Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan, and Sindh.
She also inaugurated a new intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital Lahore, met young patients and their families, and attended a ceremony marking the milestone.
Officials informed her that over 10,300 surgeries had been completed so far, while the number of cardiac surgeons and physicians at the hospital had been increased to meet growing demand.
