Chandigarh, Oct 18 (PTI) With a view to further improve the emergency healthcare services in health institutions, Punjab's Director, Health and Family Welfare, Manjit Singh, paid surprise visits to various government hospitals in four districts in the state.

Singh said the inspection was carried out at district hospitals in Rupnagar, SBS Nagar, Hoshiarpur and Pathankot and Sub-Divisional hospitals in Garhshankar, Mukerian, Dasua and Balachaur on Saturday.

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"We examined the emergency medical facilities being provided to the people and also checked the availability of essential medicines and medical equipment, especially in emergency and mother and child hospital wards," an official statement quoted him as saying.

"We also monitored the sampling process for COVID-19 testing at various hospitals. The drive lasted for around 16 hours," said Singh on Sunday.

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He said that patients and their attendants were asked about treatment facilities being provided in the hospitals.

"During the drive, a few lapses were found at some places which will be removed on priority basis and necessary instructions have been issued to the officials in this regard," he said.

During the inspection, he directed the officials that all the essential medicines should be available in the emergency ward and attendants of the patients should not be asked to bring the same from the market.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)