Punjab health minister orders power supply, fire safety audit at all govt hospitals

Published on: 28 Jan 2025 at 11:08 AM

Published by: The fact news

The Fact News Service

Chandigarh, January 28

Following the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to ensure uninterrupted power supply at Government Healthcare Facilities, Punjab Health and Family Welfare and Medical Education and Research Minister Dr Balbir Singh on Monday, ordered power supply and fire safety audit at all the Medical Colleges, Civil Hospitals, Sub-Divisional Hospitals and Block level Hospitals across the state.

The Health Minister was addressing a high-level meeting with all the Civil Surgeons of Civil Hospitals and Medical Superintendents of Medical Colleges. Administrative Secretary Health and Family Welfare Kumar Rahul, Secretary Public Works Department (PWD) Ravi Bhagat, Managing Director Punjab Health System Corporation (PHSC) Varinder Kumar Sharma, CMD PSPCL Er Baldev Singh Sran, Director Health Dr Hitinder Kaur and Director Research and Medical Education Dr Avnish Kumar also attended the meeting.

As per the directions issued by the Health Minister, all critical care units, including operation theatres, labor rooms, emergencies, SNCUs, and NICUs, must have UPS-based power backup for at least 30 minutes in case of a power outage. Additionally, a fully functional generator set with an adequate supply of diesel must be present at all healthcare facilities.

Dr Balbir Singh has also ordered that the constitution of committees at all levels including District, Sub-Division and Block level Hospitals.

The committee, which will comprise representatives from the Health Department/Medical College, PSPCL, and PWD-Electrical, will be responsible for ensuring uninterrupted power supply at all health facilities. The committee members will coordinate with each other and provide reports on the functionality status of UPS and other power backup systems available at the health facility level.

“These committees will make frequent visits at their respective hospitals to ensure that power backup and fully functional Genset are available,” he said.

The Health Minister has directed all Civil Surgeons to ensure that backup power supply should start immediately in case of a power cut so that critical services are not hampered. He added that effective communication linkage must also be established with the person responsible for switching on the backup power supply to ensure prompt action.

He also ordered to create a Whatsapp group comprising all the members of the above committees to ensure prompt response in case of any power outage situations.

The Health Minister also directed the concerned officers to immediately conduct Fire Safety Audit and ensure availability of fire extinguishers, especially, at all critical care units.