KTH launches institution-based private practice

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) administration on Thursday started the institution-based private practice (IBP) aimed at providing quality health services under one roof.A senior orthopedic surgeon, Prof Dr Mohammad Shoaib Khan examined the first patient in the IBP but didn’t charge him.

The hospital administration arranged a simple inaugural ceremony.Dr Shah Jehan and Ms Shahana Zubair, both members of the hospital Board of Governors (BoG) formally inaugurated the IBP at a simple ceremony.

Medical Director Prof Roohul Muqim and Hospital Director Dr Nek Dad Afridi were also present. After the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) in Peshawar, the KTH has become the second tertiary care hospital that started IBP.

As per the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical and Teaching Reforms Act 2015 that granted full financial and administrative autonomy to the medical and teaching institutes, the institutional heads were bound to start IBP in their respective hospitals.

Majority of the doctors who opted for IBP were from Surgical Department. Surgeon Prof Dr Roohul Muqim started the IBP as well. Speaking on the occasion, Prof Roohul Muqim said the aim of IBP was to provide quality and specialised health services to the patients on reasonable rate under one roof.

The hospital administration has issued a list of doctors who reportedly opted for IBP. However, very few of them were available in the hospital.Those present there later returned to private clinics mostly located in the Dabgari Garden area of the city where their patients were waiting for them.

The KTH administration has agreed to provide job to one each personal attendant of the doctors in their private clinics if they wanted to shift their clinics to the hospital.It was almost a year ago when the hospital administration had sought option from the doctors wanted to do IBP.

KTH was the only hospital where the maximum number of faculty members, around 60, had opted IBP.However, the previous and present hospital administration could not take it seriously despite the fact the doctors were willing to start IBP.

A majority of the faculty members who had opted IBP, remained absent on Thursday when the hospital administration formally launched it.They refused to shift their clinics and start IBP till all the promises made with them by the BoG and hospital administration are fulfilled.

The BoG had announced a financial package for the IBP doctors that attracted a good number of doctors opted for IBP.The BoG had pledged to pay Rs400, 000 to a professor, Rs350, 000 to the associate professor and Rs30, 0000 to the assistant professor, if they opted IBP.

In LRH, the BoG had honored its commitment. Though a very few doctors are having good private practice in the hospital, the remaining doctors had become burden on the hospital but even they are regularly paid.

Chairman BoG, Dr Faisal Sultan, said they wished they could have resources and paid to all the doctors in IBP.“Unfortunately we don’t have enough funds otherwise we would have provided all incentives to the doctors. And if we received any fund from the government, we would definitely like to pay to our doctors,” he said.

The doctors agreed to do IBP without incentives are Prof Roohul Muqim, Associate Prof Dr Qutb-e-Alam Associate Professor Dr Abid Haleem Assistant Prof Dr Attaullah Khan of surgical department and pediatric surgeon Assistant Prof Dr Imran Khan. 

In the medicine department only medical consultant Dr Haroon has agreed on IBP.Same is the case of gynecology and obstetrics department and ENT department where only one gynecologist, Associate Prof Dr Talat Naz and Dr Israr Khan, respectively, agreed on IBP.In orthopedics department, Prof Dr Mohammad Shoaib Khan, and consultant Dr Waqar joined IBP.