March 13, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 4, 1429

KARACHI, March 12: Members of the board of governors of the Civil Hospital Karachi and the Lyari General Hospital Karachi said on Wednesday that the board was unable to perform up to the mark and act as per the related government charter due to unfavourable conditions.

Speaking on behalf of four private members of the BoG, Abdul Sami Khan said at a press conference that the BoG could not attain the status of a true autonomous and caring medical body as both the doctors and the bureaucracy of Sindh on occasions did not accept the board wholeheartedly.

“We are unable to handle the affairs of the CHK and LGH properly as people at the helm of health affairs did not extend due support and extend guidance,” he said, adding that sometimes the high-ups did not speak on hospital issues in writing, which discouraged the board members from taking major initiatives for patients’ welfare and extension of quality health services.

The other members present at the press conference were Kauser Pervaiz and Saeed A. Mirza, who were put on the BoG in view of the philanthropic works they had already been rendering in the CHK. The medical superintendent of the CHK, Dr Kaleem Butt, the secretary of the BoG, was also present.

The BoG for the two teaching hospitals run by the Sindh government was formed through an ordinance in March 2006 with a mission to decentralise the authorities and create room for addressing the issues such as sanitation, repair and maintenance, introduction of a new facilities, maximum utilisation of the available structure and health facilities and appointments of staff up to grade 15 at the level of BoG and not to waste time in seeking approvals from the health minister or secretary or routine uploading and downloading of files and summaries in the bureaucracy.

Mr Khan said the private members had joined the government members to bring about significant changes in the overall working of the hospital and in the delivery of health-care to patients mostly coming from poor families, but the BoG was not allowed to work freely.

“We felt that there was a dire need of getting hundreds of sanitation, security and nursing staff on a contract basis against various vacant posts, but failed to do anything positive as were told by the BoG’s chairman to toe the policy practised by the Sindh government and not to insist on appointments in question as it would be an illegal act.

“Had there been initiatives and sincere follow-ups on decisions and resolutions reached at various meetings of the BoG the things would have stood different and could save us from embarrassment for a “failed like situation”, said the members repeatedly, indicating that if things were not rectified, they might also dissociate them from the BoG.

Mr Mirza said the impression that the members were doing nothing for the betterment of the two hospitals was incorrect, but he could say that a lack of clarity in the overall approaches of the board and creation of bureaucratic hurdles had surely slowed them.

Mrs Pervaiz said they had been made powerless, while on the other hand senior doctors were also not addressing grievances of patients though the vice-chancellor of DHUS, who is their administrative head was included as vice-chairman in the BoG.

The board had never been presented before the governor or the chief minister during the last many months, otherwise we could have apprised them of our handicaps, Mr Khan said, requesting that the governor, the CM and the health minister give them an audience.

Replying to questions from newsmen, the members appeared ignorant about the salary and perks of the chairman and the finance director of the board, and other financial matters of the CHK and the LGH.

They said they had never been provided with any annual report on the CHK or LGH, BoG proceedings and follow-ups or financial picture of the hospitals.

They also noted that works pertaining to the preparation of a master plan of the CHK and a shortage of manpower at the two hospitals should be undertaken on a priority basis.

Earlier, in their written statement, the members maintained that the BoG had held 22 monthly meetings since its inception and those proved to be a great source of policy formulation, settling long- awaited disputes and making quick decisions.

It was due to the efforts of the BoG and the extra financial supports from private members that a 500KVA generator under the SNE programme could be realised, a laundry plant could commence, problems of commencement of new OT complex could be addressed, while spaces for a state-of-the-art medical laboratory and a modern ICU had been earmarked.

Now free of cost food was being given to student nurses with the support of an engineering firm, while all other private public partnerships projects, including Burns Centre, PWA, PPAS, Cardiac Care Society, Emergency Obstetrics and Labour Room, were given due care.

The members also sought CDGK cooperation to solve the parking problem around the CHK, release of block allocations promised by the chief minister in the case of teaching hospitals, release of maintenance and repair funds meant for the ongoing financial year and support from the health department for solving security problems at the hospitals and prompt replies of letters written to the Sindh health department.