PESHAWAR: A plan of the government to facilitate checkup of women patients in public sector hospitals, especially in rural areas, has proved an exercise in futility owing to violation of merit in selection of officials for the programme, sources say.

The government had decided to launch a crash programme for introducing female technicians to facilitate medical examination of women patients in public sector hospitals. In this connection, the MMA-led government had passed a bill from the provincial assembly in 2008 seeking to ensure presence of female technicians in the hospitals.

The law was passed after reports surfaced that male technicians were performing ECG and other examinations of female patients which was against the local culture as women were hesitant to be examined by a male doctor. The project was launched by the health department in 2009 to cope with the shortage of lady doctors and ensure presence of women technicians at the time of conduct of ultrasound and ECG etc of women patients.

For this purpose, the health department launched training programme in four districts including Mardan, Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan and Abbottabad.

Sources allege violation of merit in selection of female technicians

Sources told Dawn that 270 women were trained in two batches of 2009 and 2010 from each of the designated districts and they were posted there.

However, the doctors say that the women technicians are of no use for the patients as they lack the required knowledge and skills. They are not involved in patients’ healthcare, they add.

The project was aimed at imparting training to more than 700 women technicians, who were later appointed at the government-run hospitals to facilities women patients. However, the doctors say they are not of any utility and are just a burden on the resources.

According to the plan, the technicians should be selected from the selected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa having secondary school certificate (matriculation) with science but the authorities concerned violated the rules and candidates, who didn’t possess the desired qualification, were selected.

The Provincial Health Services Academy, Peshawar, which coordinated the programme, selected candidates from other districts, sources said. They added that most of the selected women belonged to Peshawar district, majority of them belonged to the constituency of the then health minister, whose sister acted as coordinator of the programme.

The doctors say that the purpose of the programme couldn’t be fulfilled owing to appointment of unqualified women. According to them, the technicians were required to prepare women patients for ultrasound and ECG etc before the involvement of male doctor or male technician or assist surgeons in operation theatres and other procedure but they lacked the basic training.

Most of the Peshawar-based technicians, who had been selected on quota of other districts, were sent to hospitals and public health schools from where they managed to get transferred back to Peshawar, sources said.

Contrary to the plan to strengthen healthcare services for women patients in rural areas of the target districts, most of the technicians were currently posted in Peshawar, sources said. “As there is no job description for these technicians, they sit idle at their duty places and the female patients are yet to benefit from their presence,” they added.

As a rule, the services of those technicians weren’t transferable with a view to ensure better care of female patients in their own areas.

Sources said that they were not properly trained to be deployed in wards and other important places in the hospitals. In some places, they worked as clerks, receptionists or operators etc in schools and hospitals. According to senior officials, the government has launched inquiry into the recruitment of the women technicians.

A computer operator, who then called the shots at the PHSA, made mess of things.

Duration of two-year technician course was shortened to one year.

Former health minister Syed Zahir Ali Shah told Dawn that due process had been followed in selection and appointment of the technicians and they were facilitating female patients. “We have imparted them training in line with the prescribed criteria to ensure that women get better healthcare facilities at the hospitals. We have appointed qualified people in patients’ interests,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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