Doctors’ jobs: ‘Financial matters not on the mandate’

Committee can’t approve new cadre for doctors.

LAHORE:

The committee set up to consider changes to the service structure for government-employed doctors does not have the mandate to propose changes that involve extra spending.

Government members said this in response to the doctors’ proposal for a new 1,300-strong Health Management Cadre in the Health Department at the committee’s meeting on Wednesday. The main doctors’ groups – the Young Doctors Association (YDA), Medical Teachers Association (MTA) and Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) – had agreed on a set of proposals prior to the meeting.

Participants in the meeting told The Express Tribune that the government members said they “agreed in principle” to the establishment of a new cadre, but they could not make proposals that had anything to do with financial matters.

“The committee is mandated to work on the service structure. The creation of new posts or cadres involves financial matters and the committee cannot take any decision on it,” one of the committee members said.

Another participant said that the doctors had also proposed creating a Health Services Academy (HAS), which the government members rejected on the same grounds.

“We submitted the proposal but the government members said the committee couldn’t get involved in financial matters,” said YDA spokesman Dr Nasir Bokhari. He said the next meeting would take place in 10-12 days.

An MTA representative said that the doctors had proposed that administrative and financial powers be delegated to medical superintendents of public hospitals and principals of public medical colleges. The government members said that they would look into the matter, he said.

A government member of the committee said that they had received a draft of proposals from the doctors and would “look at what can be done”. “Some things can be done immediately, but several proposals involve long-term planning and cannot be done with the stroke of a pen. We will do our administrative work and examine all these proposals and discuss them in the next meeting,” he said.

Khawaja Salman Rafiq, the convener of the committee and the chief minister’s special adviser on health matters, said that a sub committee headed by Special Secretary Dawood Bareach would examine the longer term proposals.

Asked if a separate cadre could be set up in the Health Department without passing new legislation, he said: “It can be done administratively within the department, as per the rules. We will consider all our options.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2012.