Punjab government gives one month deadline to EDOs to improve their performance

Lahore: The Punjab government has delivered one month deadline to Executive District Officers (H) in the province to improve Key Performance Indicators or face action. In a high-level meeting of the district health managers in the Directorate General Health Services on Monday, Advisor to Chief Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique said that the Chief Minister had set June as deadline for improvement on the KPIs and stern accountability may follow in case of poor performance.

The EDOs meeting was chaired by Advisor to Chief Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique and Secretary Health Jawad Rafique Malik with Parliamentary Secretary Khawaja Imran Nazir, DG Health Punjab Dr. Zahid Pervaiz, Director EPI Dr. Munir Ahmed in attendance. Representatives from Chief Minister Roadmap team, Punjab Information Technology Board and key allied units also participated. The meeting reviewed the progress of all districts on KPIs and sought explanations from poor performers.

Director EPI Dr. Munir Ahmed shared that health camps were being set up in certain UCs of four districts: Lahore, Rawalpindi, DG Khan and Rajanpur, where basic medical services will be provided along with immunization. He presented data analysis of UCs with low vaccination coverage and asked EDOs to take administrative action against the responsible staff. While emphasizing the importance of card retention as a monitoring indicator, he said that unprecedented urban expansion called for detailed revision of micro plans which needed to be done within a month.

The Chief Minister Roadmap team shared that even though overall E-vaccs compliance was high but on GPS tracking it was found that a good number of vaccinators were not visiting the locations. The EDOs were directed to identify vaccinators with low coverage and call for explanation from those responsible.

It was also decided in the meeting that walk-in interviews be conducted to fill the vacant positions of MOs, LHVs and paramedics staff for BHUs. The roadmap team shared that data on safe deliveries will be independently verified through random contact with patients.

Secretary Health directed the EDOs to make alternate arrangements like solar energy in areas lacking basic utilities like electricity and clean water. It was also noted that there was a significant decrease in unauthorized absence but stressed that in certain areas the SOPs have to be followed more rigorously. Kh. Salman Rafique observed that e-monitoring system introduced in Health Department has enhanced the performance of EDOs as well as health indicators have also been improved.

On the overall performance scorecard, Pakpattan and Kasur were shown to be leading the province on major indicators.