PESHAWAR, Nov 27: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department is planning to streamline functioning of Paraplegic Centre in Hayatabad and develop it in line with future needs, officials said.

“We have decided to amend the relevant law and streamline the centre’s affairs. The existing law is unclear and as such the government is facing difficulties in running the centre’s administrative affairs,” the officials said. They said that the centre would serve as constituent of University of Allied Sciences (UAS) and it was felt to make plans to develop it in line with future needs.

The centre was established by International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) in 1984 to provide treatment to victims of war in Afghanistan. It was subsequently run by Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) till its handing over to the government in 2005. However, laws and rules are still needed to fully utilise it for patients and academic purposes, they added.

“The Paraplegic Act was passed by the provincial assembly on Oct 28, 2009, but rules weren’t framed and the centre’s affairs could not be run in a desired manner,” they said. The officials said that an amendment would be made to the law to clearly define duties and benefits of all the employees.

When contacted, special secretary health Prof Noorul Iman confirmed that a new board of governors had been formed to upgrade the centre. “We have to develop the centre as it would become one of the constituents of the University of Allied Sciences,” he said.

A committee has also been formed and tasked to come up with recommendations to revamp and expand scope of the centre, he said and added that the board has so far held three meetings to frame rules for appointment of chief executive and other staff.

“Currently there are no rules and all the employees work on a pattern similar to daily wagers. The centre’s about 100 employees such as doctors, physiotherapists, nurses, paramedics and support staff have been working without any rules since 1984,” he said.

Mr Iman said that they were also looking into other aspects to provide latest equipment to the centre.

The officials said that the BoG had been asked to send three names to the government for appointment of chief executive. According to them, the present chief executive and other employees at the centre have been working without any service structure and terms of reference.

Lack of facilities to staff like other government servants has been affecting output of the centre because the employees are not sure about promotion and other benefits, they said.

The officials said that the centre had now 120 beds for patients and it could be utilised for training more staff who could then serve in far-flung areas to treat patients with spinal cord injuries.

The health department is presently spending Rs4 million on postgraduate training of two physiotherapists.