KARACHI, Sept 19: Sindh government has transferred the administrative control of two police hospitals from the health department to the police through home department. The move violates an order of President Pervez Musharraf, it is learnt.

Well-placed sources said the transfer of the police hospitals’ control to the home department would not deliver the goods and the facilities made available there would not improve to the extent desired.

President Musharraf during his visit to the Sindh police headquarters, in December of 2001, had ordered the transfer of the administrative control of the police hospitals in Karachi and Hyderabad to the police department, the sources maintained.

In this respect a letter — number CES Sectt. U.o.No.F.5(1)/C- 1/CES/2002 — was sent to the secretary, health ministry, Islamabad, on Jan 8, 2002, which read: “The president and the chief executive of Pakistan during his visit to Sindh police headquarters and governor house, Karachi on 25-26 Dec 2001 has been pleased to decide that administrative control of police hospitals of Karachi and Hyderabad should be transferred from Health to Police Department for ensuring better health care/management.

“It is requested that the above decision may please be implemented on priority under intimation to this secretariat as well as the cabinet division.”

Sindh government took more than one-and-a-half years to transfer the administrative control from health department to the police through the home department. It issued a notification — number POL-HD/13-2/2001 (Prov) — on Aug 1 which reads: “With the approval of competent authority, government of Sindh is pleased to transfer the administrative control of police hospitals Karachi & Hyderabad from heath department to Sindh police through home department with immediate effect.”

Sources said the administrative control was not given to the police and any policy or administrative change was possible in the two hospitals without moving a summary to the home department and the chief secretary. Despite the shift of administrative control to the home department, no significant improvement was expected in the said hospitals.

The police officials were trying to get the notification re-issued as per the order of the president as they were of the view that the police hospitals’ performance could improve only if these were in their direct control.

They contended that the building, equipment and land on which these stood were owned by the police. Direct control should be given to the police, therefore.

The police hospitals were meant for policemen and their families where they could get free healthcare facilities. But there were complaints that patients were not attended to properly in the hospitals.

Sources said the doctors and paramedical staff would be given an option to stay with the health department or get their services absorbed in the police department, along with the two hospitals. If most of the staff and doctors left the hospital and remained with the health department, the police would appoint new doctors or paramedical staff in accordance with the need of the hospitals, they observed.

However, they said in Karachi the police hospital staff were surplus and it did not need 43 doctors including six consultants. It was a common complaint that most of the doctors and paramedical staff did not turn up at the hospitals but received salaries all the same.

If the hospitals were completely handed over to the police, a check could be put on the performance of the doctors and improvement in the hospitals’ efficiency could be realized.