PIMS, Polyclinic doctors to get raise in next fiscal year

PM’s Office issues directives to heads of both hospitals, health ministry

ISLAMABAD: Keeping his promise of bringing allowances of doctors in the federal capital on a par with the allowances provided to doctors in Punjab, Prime Minister Imran Khan has formally approved an increase in allowances of trainee post-graduate doctors and house officers working at the two tertiary care hospitals of Islamabad.

Documents available with The Express Tribune show that the increment will come into effect at the ­ Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), and the Federal Government Polyclinic Hospital from the new financial year starting from July 1, 2021.

As per directives issued by PM Imran, an increment of 43 per cent and 74 per cent respectively has been approved in the allowances of undergraduate doctors and house officers working at the two hospitals.

Following the directives, the monthly allowance of trainee post-graduate doctors has been enhanced from Rs73,000 to Rs104,300 per month whereas the allowance for house officers’ has been increased from Rs40,000 to around Rs69,600 per month.

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Heads of both tertiary care health facilities have been informed through letters after formal approval of the increment by the premier. In the directives issued from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination has been instructed for including the financial impact of the enhanced allowances in the fiscal budget for 2020-21.

So far, medics and paramedics of Islamabad have been waiting to receive revised allowances which they had believed they will get after the matter received a go-ahead from the Economic Coordination Council (ECC).

Earlier, the ECC had approved a supplementary grant for the health ministry worth Rs780.4 million in November to enhance the allowances provided to doctors serving at public-run hospitals of the federal capital.

The committee had directed the finance ministry to arrange the requisite funds to pay for the allowances.

Documents available with The Express Tribune show that the summary for the supplementary grant was presented in a meeting ECC by the health ministry.

The ministry had sought a grant worth Rs430.83 million to provide enhanced allowances to doctors serving at the Pims. A further Rs260.65 million were sought to pay allowances to doctors working at Polyclinic.

A further Rs30.85 million were sought for doctors working at the National Institute of Rehabilitation and Medicine (NIRM).

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The document states that the grant was being sought as per directions from Prime Minister Imran in August to provide doctors in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) the allowances at par with those received by doctors in neighbouring Punjab.

The health ministry had sent a summary to the prime minister suggesting an increase in healthcare allowance, health professional allowance, teaching allowance and non-practising allowance for doctors in Islamabad. The ministry proposed a measure for doctors, similar to nurses in federal hospitals, who received an increment in allowances recently.

The summary further proposed that doctors working in basic pay scale (BPS) 17 and 18 should get 75 per cent of basic pay as special healthcare allowance, 75 per cent health professional allowance, 75 per cent non-practising allowance and 75 per cent teaching allowance.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2020.