Building the basics: Ordinance to give autonomy to govt teaching institutions

Medical experts say district-level health care the need of the hour, not new legislation.

PESHAWAR:

To give autonomy to government-owned medical teaching institutions and their affiliates, the provincial government will table the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Medical Teaching Institutions Reform Ordinance, 2014 before the assembly.

The draft of the bill, to be presented in the K-P Assembly, was prepared after consultation with different stakeholders, The Express Tribune has learnt. However, health experts and doctors have reservations over the draft, saying it has many flaws and the government should consider district-wise primary health units before bringing reforms to tertiary-level hospitals.



A copy of the draft, available with The Express Tribune, showed that apart from providing autonomy to institutes, the bill states its aims as improving performance, efficacy, efficiency and responsiveness of medical institutes to ensure quality health care for the people of K-P. The legislation would apply to the entire province.

“It shall apply to all the existing medical teaching institutions and their affiliated hospitals in the public sector and any such institutions the government may establish under Section 3 of this ordinance,” it read.

Empowered operations

The document showed that existing institutions or any of those established under this ordinance shall be corporate bodies with perpetual succession under a common seal and have the power to hold or dispose of moveable and immovable property. It stated the main objectives of the institutions would be to undertake all functions required for medical education, including training and research, to provide health facilities for people and perform all such functions as assigned from time to time.

The draft proposed each institute should have a board of governors and decisions taken through a majority vote and the consensus of all members. It said the board would be responsible to ensure the objectives of the institution are achieved.

A nomination council, headed by the minister for health, would put forward the names of suitable candidates for the boards of governors. Other members of the nomination council would include the additional chief secretary of planning and development as vice chairman and the secretary health as a member.

Expanding roles

The draft proposed faculty and teaching institutes would be set up for those educational establishments affiliated with universities. It said the medical faculty would consist of a dean and chairpersons for various departments, including basic and clinical services. The faculty will have teaching, training, research and advisory roles, while the clinical faculty shall be consultants at the affiliated teaching hospitals.

Documents further showed that all medical and dental practitioners working at the consultant-level in government hospitals, clinics and laboratories will have the right to practice privately.

However, talking to The Express Tribune, a senior official of Health Employees Coordination Council and president of the Postgraduate Medical Institute Teaching Staff Association (PMITSA), Prof Dr Musa Kaleem, said the medical community had several reservations over the bill. He said the government must consult all stakeholders.

He said that instead of bringing new laws, the government should focus on setting up primary health units at the district level. Dr Kaleem said there were no facilities in Mardan, Charsadda, Nowshera and other districts; patients were being brought to Peshawar for treatment.

However, health department special secretary Akbar Khan said the bill was currently in the form of an additional draft and detailed meetings were being held to improve its contents. He added passing a bill in the assembly is no easy task and the process has to go through various steps. Khan said after consulting all stakeholders, the bill would be sent to the law department for vetting and subsequently to the cabinet. After further deliberations, the cabinet would present it to the assembly to pass into law through a majority vote.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21^st, 2014.