Physiotherapy left to whims and designs of therapists
F or the last two years, I have been suffering from Spondylitis. To put it simply, four of my neck discs were affected. Two slipped out of their places. These are called herniated discs. The other two discs had grown outward. These are called disc bulges. In both cases, the patient bears severe arm and shoulders pain due to pressure on the nerves. Three treatments are generally used to cure: surgery, physiotherapy and painkillers/ muscle relievers.
Except for physiotherapy, all other treatments make the patients usually worse off due to the side effects of painkillers and surgery. In an ideal healthcare environment, physiotherapy brings quality back to the patients’ lives. In Pakistan, unfortunately, physiotherapy is left to the designs and whims of therapists or hospitals running the department. The irony is that the Punjab Healthcare Commission, a body mandated to regulate the healthcare establishments of the province, lacks the jurisdiction to monitor or inspect physiotherapy departments from which millions of rupees are generated and where hundreds and thousands of patients visit each day in different vicinities. Most therapists (not all) are not only playing with the patients’ lives by giving them the wrong treatment but also prescribing medicines for which they are not qualified. Some therapists prolong treatment to mint money. I have experienced each one of these.
The patient has no option but to follow the therapists. When asked why the commission has left such an important area unregulated, the response was that since physiotherapy lacks a regulatory council, like nurses or doctors have in the form of the Pakistan Nursing Council and the Pakistan Medical Commission respectively, the commission legally could not step into this area. It also means that the patient has no forum to register a complaint in case of injury or maltreatment. In short, the field is open for exploitation. A few Lahore therapists recommend Amino Neuro Frequency Therapy to relieve pain and inflammation. These patches of different frequencies cost nearly Rs1,000 per patch. We have no idea whether the physiotherapists using this mode of treatment are qualified or not.
One physiotherapist had also used the ANF therapy to treat and protect patients from coronavirus. Fifteen to 30 patches were used on each patient for the purpose. It is even used to help a woman conceive a boy. How do we know that the ANF therapy can be used for these multiple purposes? There is no commission, no council or body to answer these questions. In one of the leading hospitals in Lahore, a doctor in the name of osteopathy is making millions every month. He claims that he detoxes the system by putting his hand on certain parts of the body. How do we know this is true? Each session costs a patient Rs4,000 to 5,000. The Punjab Healthcare Commission was established in the backdrop of the death of a little girl, Iman Ali, from a wrong injection.
The media took the story by storm and opened up a debate on the predatory and exploitative nature of Pakistan’s medical profession. As a result, then Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif made the Punjab Healthcare Commission Act 2010. The basic mandate of the PHC is to bring quality to healthcare facilities through the implantation of Minimum Service Delivery Standards. Another important job of the commission is to eliminate quackery in all forms and manifestations. The commission should have been responsible for regulating the health sector in totality.
Leaving physiotherapy to the whims of doctors and hospital administration is tantamount to throwing patients to the wolves. The question is: Why hasn’t the commission moved the Health Ministry to bring this field under a council? Why hasn’t the commission, under quackery’s jurisdiction, included physiotherapy departments in its inspection loop? And finally, why does the commission works in a reactive mode?