LAHORE: Acting on public complaints about hospitals, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Friday made it mandatory for hospital staff to wear body cameras.

Body cameras, or body cams, are wearable audio and video recording devices used to capture footage of official action for evidence. Last month, following corruption complaints against the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority (Pera), CM Maryam made it mandatory for field officials to wear body cams in a bid to ensure transparency and accountability. However, this order has yet to be implemented.

Presiding over a meeting on provincial health projects today, the CM said that wearing body cams would be mandatory for nurses, ward boys, security guards, and pharmacy staff.

The CM further said that public hospital administration must ensure the comprehensive daily steam cleaning of facilities by 9am.

“There must be a ban on the use of mobile phones by doctors and nurses during duty hours, stressing that patient care must remain the foremost priority,” she also ordered.

To strengthen hospital management, the meeting approved the creation of a Medical Superintendent (MS) pool, with salary increments linked directly to performance. Community health inspectors were also assigned the responsibility of conducting hospital surveys to monitor service delivery.

The provincial chief executive further directed the establishment of a data analysis centre to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of public welfare initiatives in the health sector.

CM Maryam also directed the preparation of a revised medicines list for government hospitals and called for a foolproof mechanism to ensure an uninterrupted supply of essential drugs.

Additionally, the chief minister ordered the formation of a dedicated committee to finalise the updated medicines list.

She expressed concern over reports of medicine shortages despite substantial budget allocations, noting that Rs80 billion was being spent on medicines and any lapse in delivery to patients was unacceptable.

The meeting also reviewed proposals to modernise public hospitals, including the potential use of Chinese-manufactured medical equipment to upgrade healthcare facilities across the province.

It was informed that over 2,500 doctors had been recruited over the past two years and that 585,000 patients across the province had been registered for the home delivery of cardiac medicines, with doorstep delivery completed for 6,000 patients suffering from hepatitis and tuberculosis.

CM Maryam emphasised that the government would no longer tolerate wastage of public funds or citizens’ time, warning that inefficiency and negligence in public hospitals would not be accepted.

Last month, Nishtar Hospital sacked a doctor working as an additional house officer for misbehaving with a patient’s family, a video of which had gone viral on social media.

An inquiry committee was also formed to probe the incident.