Some of BoGs’ members likely to be replaced

Public sector hospitals

PESHAWAR: Disappointed with the performance of some members of the board of governors of public hospitals, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to replace them with relatively active and energetic people who could play a role in improving patient care at the Medical Teaching Institutions (MTIs).

The decision was taken after the reported failure of the board of governors in resolving a minor issue that started with the protest by the paramedics and sanitation workers at the Ayub Teaching Hospital (ATH), Abbottabad and led to its closure for five days. The ATH is the lone public sector tertiary care hospital in the Hazara division.

It caused hardships to patients as the board of governors members had refused to talk to the protesting health workers who wanted the government to cancel their transfer orders.

Subsequently, senior doctors at ATH and local notables in Abbottabad approached Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, Special Assistant to Chief Minister on information and higher education to take note of the patients’ suffering.

He held talks with them and cancelled their transfer orders through Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.This act of Mushtaq Ghani was stated to be a violation of the much-trumpeted Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act 2015 pioneered by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)-led government and interference in administrative affairs of the autonomous medical teaching institution, Ayub Teaching Hospital (ATH), by negotiating with 39 health employees and then withdrawing their transfer orders.

Recently when healthcare workers went on strike and suspended services at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) and Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) in Peshawar and Ayub Teaching Hospital (ATH) in Abbottabad, the medical directors of LRH and KTH took action against the protesting union leaders, majority of them government servants.

The services of these employees were returned to the office of Director General Health and Services for further posting and he transferred them to far-flung areas of the province. It prompted the employees to go to the court.

The protesting health workers in LRH and KTH later called off the strike after holding a meeting with Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.

However, the protesting paramedics and sanitation workers in ATH continued their protest and kept health services suspended for five days.Senior faculty members of ATH told The News that they had approached the board of governors, including its chairman Javed Panni, about the long protest of the hospital workers and the hardships it had caused to the patients.

However, they said almost all the board members including the chairman refused to hold talks with the protesting health workers.The government had appointed Rashid Ahmad, Dr Asim Yusuf, Col (R) Salahuddin, Dr Imtiaz Malang, Javed Panni and Tariq Khan as members of the board of governors.

Rashid Ahmad was appointed chairman of the board, but had later resigned from both the membership and chairmanship and Javed Panni replaced him.A senior government official told The News they had decided in principle to replace some of the board of governors members in ATH and KTH.

“Some of the members in ATH aren’t performing accordingly and are required to be replaced with efficient and dedicated people,” the official said.He said the BoG members in ATH had miserably failed in implementing the Medical Teaching Institution Reforms Act 2015 in one year.

“The role of BoG members in ATH and KTH is under severe criticism for their inactive role in implementation of MTI Act in letter and spirit,” he said.He said some the board members in ATH couldn’t even replace some people of the hospital administration who had been facing serious corruption charges for the past many years.

“The BoG members of ATH don’t even bother to visit the hospital. They are now planning to hold the board meeting either in  Islamabad  or Lahore instead of Abbottabad due to the threats from mafias,” the government official said.

Besides other failures, he said the board didn’t properly handle the hospital employees during the recent strike and also couldn’t stop a private pharmacy established a few years ago within the hospital premises.