- PM orders Pims to adopt international fire safety standards.
- PM Shehbaz orders audit of Polyclinic hospital over irregularities.
- CDA directed to enforce fire safety measures at hospitals.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed the authorities concerned to implement all short-term remedial and fire safety measures aligned with international standards at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) within the next three months.
The prime minister, chairing a meeting on the action plan for improvement of Pims hospital, instructed the implementation of short-term measures proposed in the inquiry report within three months and to take every possible step to uplift the facility as per international standards.
The development comes a day after a comprehensive inquiry into the Pims nursery fire that killed 14 newborns concluded that an electrical fault in the supply cable of air conditioner number two was the most probable cause of the fire, while the catastrophe resulted from “systematic and institutional failures”.
The report, a copy available with Geo News, found that the fire became visible at approximately 6:38am and dense smoke engulfed the nursery within one to two minutes, leaving an “exceptionally narrow rescue window.”
The emergency was not reported to the Capital Emergency Service until 6:54am — a 16-minute gap the committee identified as a principal chronological concern, though CES itself responded within minutes of confirmed notification.
During the meeting today, the inquiry report on the Pims fire incident and the performance audit of the Institute by the Ministry of National Health Services were reviewed.
The prime minister suggested seeking assistance and proposals from PKLI for the fire safety-related system and ensuring the proposals mentioned in the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) report.
PM Shehbaz said that the action plan should also feature the steps to provide medicines and other facilities completely free of charge to the people, and directed the deployment of well-reputed human resources and the formulation of a comprehensive action plan based on long-term measures to improve the Pims hospital.
He also called for conducting an audit of Polyclinic hospital to remove irregularities and formulate an action plan for its restructuring, and instructed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to ensure implementation of fire safety measures in all government and private hospitals in the federal capital.
He said that the CDA and all relevant institutions should carry out the fire safety audit of government and private buildings and implement fire safety measures.
The PM was told that out of the indicators examined in the performance audit of Pims Hospital, only 39.7% compliance was found compared to the acceptable target of 90%.
Moreover, implementation of 37 proposed measures is being ensured immediately in light of the inquiry report. The participants were also apprised of short, medium, and long-term measures to uplift the facility.
The meeting was attended by federal ministers including Azam Nazeer Tarar, Ahad Khan Cheema, Attaullah Tarar, Syed Mustafa Kamal, Special Assistant to PM Dr Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, and relevant senior officials.
