LAHORE, Oct 4: The Punjab Health Department has directed all principals of autonomous medical institutions (AMIs) and heads of Punjab and Multan institutes of cardiology to submit detailed reports on the rates of tests, income, distribution of shares and purchase and maintenance of electro-medical equipment.

Health secretary Rashida Malik has issued a circular to all principals of AMIs and heads of the PIC and the MIC following a meeting chaired by the Punjab chief secretary. The meeting had decided that the health department should make a presentation on different issues.

The health department’s focus would remain on determination of user charges and allocation of share; procurement of electro-medical equipment, its maintenance as well as its use. The department has also provided six proformas to respective institutions’ principals/heads and asked them to fill in complete and correct information and submit after signing the documents by themselves.

The health department had given five days time, concluding on Thursday (tomorrow), to respective principals/heads to submit requisite information through a special messenger.

The first proforma requires a list of user charges — rates of tests performed/services provided by hospital/institutions. Besides mentioning the existing rate per unit, it demands information that when these rates were revised and what were government rates.

The second proforma requires information about the total income from tests/services of various departments/specialities and its block distribution. The proforma says that respective institution should give information about total income year-wise since 1997-98, when the medical institutions and attached teaching hospitals were granted autonomy. It also seeks year-wise break-down of government’s share, doctor’s share as well as paramedics and other categories’ share from the total income.

The third proforma requires that the principals/heads should give a detail of distribution of shares to respective doctors and paramedics, including nurses by name, besides other categories of staff. This information is also required year-wise since 1997-98.

The fourth proforma seeks information about the total perchee fee from outdoor patients, admission fee from indoor patients and other charges with distribution, if any.

The proforma V and VI requires that the status of electro-medical equipment — purchase and maintenance — be disseminated. It is reliably learnt that a presentation pertaining to boards of management of autonomous medical and health institutions was made by the King Edward Medical College and allied hospitals’ board of management chairman Prof Fateh Khan Akhtar.

It is learnt that the health department will give a presentation to the committee headed by the chief secretary in a week’s time. Besides the information sought from the hospitals, the health department would also be required to give a presentation on the system of purchase of medicines, including pre-qualification of manufacturers, rate contracting etc., and the problems identified in the system. It would also discuss the issue of misuse of electricity and gas in the tertiary care institutions.

The committee will also hear the issue of vacant posts in the institutions, especially the matter pertaining to large number of work charge employees in these institutions.

It is learnt that most of the teaching hospitals in Lahore have sent the required information except details of distribution of share to respective doctors, paramedics and nurses during the last eight years.

Talking to Dawn, different medical superintendents said it was not possible to give the detail of share distribution to doctors individually.

It is learnt, the hospitals have also been asked to give information about the system of purchase of medicines and vacant posts in the institutions.— MANSOOR MALIK