Irregularities, complaints: KP govt to dissolve Policy Board, BoGs of teaching hospitals

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet in its second meeting held with Caretaker Chief Minister Mohammad Azam Khan in the chair on Thursday decided to dissolve the Policy Board and then remove Board of Governors (BoGs) of all the 10 Medical Teaching Institutions (MTIs) of the province in phases.

According to senior government officials at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, the caretaker cabinet was briefed about the MTIs and alleged irregularities there. It decided to dissolve the Policy Board in the first phase and then remove the BoGs of tertiary care hospitals phase-wise.

The officials said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has authorised the caretaker government to remove the heads of autonomous government institutions.

The KP caretaker Information Minister, Barrister Feroz Jamal Kakakhel, is likely to hold a press conference in this regard today (Friday).

The Policy Board is headed by Prof Dr Nausherwan Burki, the architect of KP health reforms. He is also a cousin of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, and was considered to be the most powerful and influential figure in the nine-year plus government of the party in KP.

Other members of the Policy Board included Gen (retd) Salahuddin, chairman BoG Bacha Medical Complex (BKMC), Swabi, Dr Tahir Aziz, Shaukat Khanum Hospital, Lahore, Dr Zeeshan Bin Ishtiaq, medical director, Shifa International, Islamabad, and Prof Dr Ghazala Mahmood, a gynaecologist who served in the Shifa International, Islamabad.

Besides other responsibilities, the Policy Board is authorised under the MTI Act for overall evaluation of MTIs and gives policy guidelines to them. The board has just started evaluation of some of the MTIs, whether they were meeting their indicators, standards for management, education and quality assurance.

According to officials, the government has decided to first remove the Policy Board and then other BoGs of MTIs, as according to them if the BoGs had to be removed, the Policy Board would need to look after them.

“Once the Policy Board is removed, the government will dissolve some of the hospital boards and other BoGs would be entitled to look after those institutions. And thus one by one, all the boards will be dissolved and replaced by impartial people,” explained the official.

It is believed that Dr Nausherwan Burki had discouraged political interference in the Lady Reading Hospital where he was also chairman of the hospital BoG, but he could not succeed in the implementation of the so-called health reforms in all the MTIs in true letter and spirit.

According to the officials, the chief minister and his adviser on health Dr Abid Jameel received complaints about irregularities of serious nature in the MTIs, particularly in Nowshera, Mardan, Peshawar Institute of Cardiology, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Abbottabad.

When reached, Jameel confirmed to The News that the cabinet had agreed to remove the Policy Board members and later dissolve the BoGs of MTIs in phases.