PESHAWAR: The Board of Governors (BoG) of the Mardan Medical Complex (MMC) and Bacha Khan Medical College (BKMC) is facing a number of challenges to implement the Medical Teaching Institution Reforms Act 2015 in letter and spirit and improve health services and quality of teaching in the two institutions.
According to officials, the board members are expected to meet today (Saturday) in MMC.
In its earlier meeting, the board had decided expansion of Cardiology Department, operationalisation of the under-construction hostels of BKMC, purchasing an additional CT scan machine, generator and setting up laundry at the newly-constructed Benazir Children Hospital, and establishing department of medical research in BKMC.
Interestingly, instead of upgrading the cardiology services by hiring qualified staff and setting up Cath lab to initiate important procedures such as angiography and angioplasty, the board divided the existing ward into two units.
A retired physician, Dr Syed Fazle Hadi, is chairman of the board.
He had served as chairman of the board in MMC earlier to develop the cardiology department and start angiography and angioplasty procedures.
Also, the BoG is expected to launch services at the newly-built cardiac diagnostic building in the MMC.
The MMC has three echo machines and only one is functional while the other two machines are still lying in the store. Patients are given one month time for echo in the hospital.
It has flourished business of private sector and patients are advised to go there if they needed echo earlier.
The previous board had failed to implement MTI Act due to reasons best known to them but there were reports that some of the faculty members and people in the administration were more powerful than the BoG members.
The present BoG is expected to start the institution-based private practice (IBP) of the doctors, which is an integral component of MTI Act 2015.
Under the Act, it is mandatory for the medical director and dean to join IBP soon after assuming charge of their offices.
In MMC, neither the MD nor dean has joined the IBP so far.
Initially, a few junior doctors joined the IBP but since no other senior consultant joined them, they also stopped attending clinics in the hospital.
It will not only help the institution generate its own revenue but will ensure quality of services for patients in the hospital. And for this, the BoG would need to ensure availability of other services such a pathology and radiology in the hospital.
The KP government is planning to introduce an amendment to the MTI law and make it compulsory for all chairpersons and heads of departments to join the IBP.
The hospital CT scan has not been functioning for one month and all the patients are referred to a private machine.
It is also a major challenge for the BoG to ensure merit in key positions.
The Hospital Director, Dr Tariq Mehmood, has his private hospital just across the road where all types of services are offered to patients and most of the MMC doctors are running private clinics there.
Another issue is the attendance of the faculty members and other staff of the hospital, though the hospital has recently installed biometric system for that.
There is a major complaint that senior consultants do not either come to OPDs
on time or when come they do not see patients without reference.
Also, the MMC is perhaps the only public sector hospital where pharmaceutical companies regularly provide tea with chicken pieces, cookies and cakes in the OPDs which has been wasting precious time of the doctors and patients.
Another challenge for the BoG is to hire qualified staff for the newly constructed Benazir Children Hospital on the premises of the MMC and deliver it to paediatricians.
Currently, Dr Javed Iqbal, resident medical officer, has been appointed as head the children hospital.
Except for initiating general paediatric OPD, no other paediatric services are available in the so-called children hospital. Interestingly, there is only paediatric surgeon in the MMC but he is working in adult surgical department of the hospital.
The children hospital should have other services such as paediatric cardiology, gastroenterology and nephrology.
