KARACHI, Nov 18: The dual control of the police and the health department over the police hospital is hampering its smooth functioning. Even if dissatisfied with the performance of staff members, the police authorities cannot transfer them to their parent department, it is learnt.

Since July this year, the police department has been desperately trying to relieve five doctors of the police hospitals. It has repeatedly written to the secretary for the services, general administration and coordination department, saying that work of those doctors was not up to the required standards, and that they be repatriated to the health department. But the issue continued to linger on, sources told Dawn. According to a memorandum of understanding signed between the health and police departments through the home department in May 2005, the police department is the controlling body of the police hospitals in Karachi and Hyderabad through a board of governors. The home and health secretaries of Sindh are permanent members of the board.

However, even after the change of the so-called administrative control, things remain unchanged for patients. In 2008, the provincial police officer had issued a standing order to bring about improvement in the administration and management of the police hospitals.

The order spelt out that the AIG-Welfare will act as the administrator of the hospitals to be run with the support of a managing committee comprising DIG-Headquarters, DIG-South, DIG-Hyderabad, DIG-Sukkur, AIG-Welfare, AIG-Finance and medical superintendents.

The police hospital in Karachi, which is being upgraded, when properly functional will provide medical facilities to about 37,000 police personnel and their families in Karachi. The first phase of the project aims at developing a fully equipped emergency room, consulting clinics, 25-bed male and 25-bed female medical wards, a 20-bed maternity and obstetrics ward and a 20-bed surgical ward.

A modern referral facility, including X-rays, ultrasound and laboratory, would also be built, a senior officer associated with the project said. He added that work on the maternity and obstetrics wards was in its final stage and the wards were likely to be commissioned by the end of November.

“At present 70 to 80 patients are coming to the hospital daily, but we still have a lot of ground to cover before the hospital becomes a well-equipped health facility,” said a senior officer.

“If the issue of doctors’ transfers is resolved with the health department, we have worked out an arrangement under which competent doctors will be hired on contract.

“For proper functioning of the hospital, we are acquiring services of doctors. Through this arrangement, we hope to get good doctors so that quality healthcare could be ensured for the police force,” the officer said.

The police hospital should be an autonomous body like the Sindh Institute of Urology Transplantation, where funding could be generated by the Sindh government and donations from donors, AIG-Welfare Shahid Hayat said.

To ensure the highest standards of transparency, a well-known audit firm has been appointed as external auditors of the hospital, the AIG said. The police hospital fund consists of grants received from the federal and provincial governments, donations and endowments, income from the investments and deposits, aid received by the hospital, fee and other charges of services rendered by the hospital, grants made by any local authority, all money received from any donor agency of Pakistan or foreign origin and grants from the police welfare fund.

The AIG-Welfare said that in addition to the medical superintendent, who represents the health department and looks after the administrative issues, a separate head of clinical affairs would look after the clinical issues of the hospital.

The head of clinical affairs would be a medical or surgical specialist (FCPS, FRCS, MRCP). Arrangements were being made so that noted consultants would become part of the visiting team of doctors for the hospital, he said, adding that surgeries would also be carried out once the operation theater was commissioned.

“We are trying to get powers to raise our own cadre for health officers exclusively answerable to the PPO, and through him to the home department. These officers would have the same ranks as the police officers have and would be promoted accordingly,” AIG Hayat said.

“The envisaged health cadre will be on the pattern of the armed forces.”