PMC to inspect allied hospitals from Nov 18

Institutes stand to lose accreditation if found lacking in standards set by medical body

RAWALPINDI:

The Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) has issued an inspection schedule of Rawalpindi’s three teaching hospitals accredited with the regulatory medical body.

The inspection will be carried out to assess whether the hospitals in question are following PMC’s established standards of treatment, education, training, equipment, provision of medicines, surgery, availability of doctors and nursing staff as required.

The teaching hospitals are at the risk of having their accreditation with PMC either revoked or suspended if the medical body deems their compliance of the Commission’s indicators insufficient.

Holy Family Hospital, District Headquarters Hospital and Benazir Bhutto General Hospital are the three public sector hospitals in Rawalpindi accredited by PMC and affiliated with Rawalpindi Medical University.

According to sources, the inspection will especially focus on the quality of teaching and training being conducted for the students of Rawalpindi Medical University at the teaching hospitals. Standards of education being imparted to students of the MBBS degree will also be assessed, with a further aim to gauge the potential expertise of future doctors.

As per the information gathered by The Express Tribune, the said hospitals’ fulfilment of indicators established by the PMC is hardly adequate.

Sources said that there are chances of the impending inspection being different than the ones formerly carried out by the erstwhile PMDC (Pakistan Medical & Dental Council), hinting that this time, the hospitals may be subjected to a deeper critical analysis than before.

Currently, the hospitals are reportedly rife with widespread violations in the standards of teaching, training and treatment. Besides the questionable quality of education, there is also a dearth of doctors and nursing staff and a considerable gap between the number of surgeries that should be carried out and the actual number of operations being conducted.

Non-compliance with standard operating procedures, shortage of medicines, increasing complaints of patients regarding treatment, lack of elective medical equipment and construction faults present in the building structures are some more points of concern for the hospitals.

The PMC will conduct detailed inspections of Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto General Hospital, and District Headquarters Hospital on November 18, 19, and 20. The inspection team will consist of eye experts, evaluators, doctors, surgeons, professors, and other experts.

The hospitals since the past three days have been reportedly in a state of urgency to bring matters up to the mark ahead of the inspection.

On Saturday, Vice-Chancellor Rawalpindi Medical University Prof. Dr Muhammad Omar also paid detailed visits to the three hospitals and issued directives for the completion of preparations before the PMC team’s arrival.

Sources said that faced with the risk of their accreditation being either revoked or suspended, the managements of the three hospitals have started drawing up reports to explain the inadequacy or absence of the PMC’s indicators of quality education and treatment at their respective institutes.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2021.