Abstract
BackgroundPakistan reported more than a million cases during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, shuffling the already resource-constrained health system that is known for its high vulnerability and lack of adaption.ObjectiveTo find out the level of preparedness of public hospitals for the novel COVID-19 pandemic in Lahore district.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from April to July 2021 among all 18 public hospitals under Specialized Health Care and Medical Education (SHC&ME) in Lahore by administering World Health Organization (WHO) and SHC&ME modified and pre-tested interviewer based and observation checklist. The level of preparedness was assessed for 11 domains, and each domain was scored as a dichotomous variable (Yes and No). Hospital preparedness was labeled as ‘acceptable,’ ‘insufficient,’ and ‘unacceptable.’ Descriptive statistics were run by using SPSS version 26 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY), and data are presented in the form of tables and bar graphs.ResultsOut of 18 hospitals, only three (17%) had an acceptable level of preparedness for COVID-19 (>70%). An unacceptable level of preparedness (<35%) was seen in one hospital (5%). Fourteen hospitals (78%) were insufficiently prepared (35-70%).ConclusionThe study highlights the suboptimal preparedness in 83% of the public hospitals with a consistent pattern of deficiencies in surge capacity, logistics and resource management, essential services, including diagnostics, infection prevention, and control.
Highlights
Hospitals have always been centers of health care services, and their role is highlighted during calamities.Whether pandemics are classified as disasters or not is still debatable, but it is an established fact that they lead to an increase in the spread of disease
An overwhelming majority of the world is fighting against the pandemic caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which manifested itself through illness, death, economic recession, and impeding health systems
The current global economic and health situation is the point of concern for low and middle-income nations with fragile health systems and low-quality health care services
Summary
Whether pandemics are classified as disasters or not is still debatable, but it is an established fact that they lead to an increase in the spread of disease. An overwhelming majority of the world is fighting against the pandemic caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which manifested itself through illness, death, economic recession, and impeding health systems. This health crisis has shut down global economies, indicating how health care has become inseparable from economic growth and governance systems [2,3]. Pakistan reported more than a million cases during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, shuffling the already resource-constrained health system that is known for its high vulnerability and lack of adaption
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