PESHAWAR, June 8: The NWFP government has finally decided to grant financial autonomy to teaching hospitals in the province.

This was revealed at a meeting held on Saturday to review the institution-based practice launched in government hospitals in the province. The meeting was presided over by the NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah.

The governor directed the concerned authorities to provide state-of-the-art facilities to patients registered with institution based practice (IBP), saying that the income from IBP must be utilized to enhance facilities.

The meeting was attended by the provincial chief secretary, and chief executives of teaching hospitals.

“The practicing doctors should be provided modern diagnostic and treatment equipments,” the governor said, adding that the waiting rooms in the OPDs should also be better equipped.

The IBP income in districts should also be spent on the improvement of relevant hospitals, he directed.

He said that the casualty department of any hospital is considered to be a “litmus test” these should be sufficiently equipped to deal with emergencies.

He disclosed that the government was considering a proposal to make the tertiary hospitals only referral hospitals and that the Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) are separated from these hospitals.

It will ease the burden off the tertiary hospitals to a great extent, enabling these health outlets to provide state-of-the-art facilities to indoor patients, he added.

The government has already started strengthening the secondary-level medicare service at all district headquarters.