SAD says extremely unfortunate Punjab govt failed to create ICU facilities in 17 out of 22 districts
Coronavirus Punjab: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday said it was extremely unfortunate that the Congress government had been unable to create ICU facilities in 17 out of 22 government hospitals in Punjab despite making claims of spending more than Rs 1,000 crore on upgrading medical infrastructure during the last one year.
Former minister Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema said media reports had exposed the Congress government claim of having upgraded the medical infrastructure in the State by pointing out that 17 out of the 22 districts in Punjab did not have a single ICU bed.
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He said it was even more shocking to know that except for five districts of Patiala, Faridkot, Amritsar, Jalandhar, and Ludhiana, no government hospital of the state provided Level-3 care to critical patients.
Stating that all this was extremely distressing, Dr. Cheema said “too much time has been wasted. The government has failed in its responsibility towards the people. It should not waste any more time and should augment the medical facilities in all government hospitals to ensure people were not forced to go in for very expensive treatment in private hospitals".
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The Shiromani Akali Dal leader asked the chief minister to first get the few hundred ventilators lying unused in the State installed.
“Medical staff should be recruited on an emergency basis to run the ventilators,” he said.
Adding, he said besides this the government should focus on providing level three ICU facilities in all government hospitals to ensure critically ill patients have access to affordable health care.
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