A board of doctors from the Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) in Lahore met with former premier Nawaz Sharif on Saturday evening and is currently taking an initial medical history.
The incarcerated former prime minister was given a warm reception by hospital staff upon his arrival at Services Hospital, the main teaching hospital of SIMS.
Doctors said the first round of tests will take place after obtaining details regarding how Sharif is currently feeling. They also said that the recommendations provided by the board which had referred him to the hospital will also be given due consideration.
The medical staff thought it best to first serve the former premier tea and snacks before proceeding with any medical examinations.
Sharif was then shifted to the hospital’s VIP room under strict security measures. Supporters chanted slogans in his favour and the former premier waved back in response.
Earlier in the day, the Punjab government had consented to a medical board’s recommendation to shift former premier Nawaz Sharif from Kot Lakhpat Central jail, where he is currently incarcerated, to Services Hospital for medical examinations.
The former prime minister was moved late Saturday afternoon.
In an update on Twitter, Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz said she was told that her father had been taken to the hospital.
A six-member medical board, which was constituted to carry out a thorough medical examination of Sharif earlier this week, had recommended that the former prime minister be shifted to a hospital as he was “suffering from multiple health issues that need immediate and specialised healthcare at a facility where care for multiple and complicated diseases is available”.
Sharif, who was convicted in the Al Azizia corruption reference by an accountability court last year and sentenced to seven years in prison, has reportedly experienced medical complications while serving time at Kot Lakhpat.
According to the notification, Sharif will remain in the hospital till his medical tests are carried out. The home department stressed that “foolproof security arrangements” be made during his shifting to the hospital and his subsequent stay.
The superintendent of Kot Lakhpat jail has been ordered to ensure that Sharif is shifted back to prison once the medical examination is complete.
A three-member medical board, comprising Principal Professor Mehmood Ayaz, Professor Sajid Nisar and Professor Kamran Cheema, will carry out the medical examination.
Dr Qambar Zia, the medical superintendent of Services Hospital, said that the hospital had not yet received Sharif’s reports prepared by the medical board that examined the former prime minister in jail. A detailed checkup will be done once the reports are received, he said.
Dr Zia further said that the hospital will not be able to provide treatment for any heart ailment that Sharif may be suffering from.
