PESHAWAR: The government is working on a plan to approve a proper service structure for medical officers working on general and administrative posts in hospitals of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Officials said that a summary was being moved to chief minister to give a proper career path to general and administrative cadre (non-specialist) doctors, 80 per cent of whom retired in the same grade in which they were employed.

They said that government was faced with daunting task to find doctors and fill up the vacant posts because of lack of service structure. “Two months back, the health department appointed 450 doctors of whom 250 didn’t join their offices owing to non-existence of service structure,” they added.

Officials said that 300 posts of general cadre were vacant in the health department while about 80 doctors were awaiting their promotion from BPS-17 to BPS-18. “In administrative or management cadre, the number of vacant posts of BPS-18 is 70 and that of BPS-19 is 40 despite the availability of 100 doctors in BPS-18,” they said.

Officials say 80pc of non-specialist doctors get no chance of promotion

The previous government had devised a four-tier formula, which was never implemented. According to the formula, 45 per cent of the existing doctors had to remain in BPS-17, 35 per cent in BPS-18 and 10 per cent each in BPS-19 and BPS-20.

Officials said that for the last 15 years, new posts had not been created because the appointments were not made through public service commission but on contractual basis. They were not regular servants, therefore, those awaiting their promotions didn’t get to the next grade, they added.

“In the present situation there is no chance of promotion except retirement of higher grade doctors on which the next senior is promoted or the death or resignation of the doctors which don’t happen frequently,” said officials.

They said that there was complete ambiguity as far as promotion of doctors was concerned. They said that successive governments announced ad hoc allowances which neither made any impact on their salaries and pensions or other benefits.

Officials said that the present government was convinced that promotion was motivational factor for doctors owing to which they stood eligible to higher posts like medical superintendents, district health officers and agency surgeons etc. The present scenario with regard to doctors’ promotion has been hampering performance of the health department as development indicators have fallen during the past one decade.

Officials said that scores of highly qualified doctors resigned from government jobs to join UN agencies for better pay structure.

Contrary to general and management cadre doctors, there is a smooth system for the promotion of specialists as they get promoted to the next post rapidly under a proper mechanism. The general doctors, who should go to next grade after certain period of time like all civil servants, remain stuck in BPS-17 for more than 20 years.

The doctors say that they do MBBS after getting highest marks in the intermediate examinations and then qualify the entrance test before getting admission to medical colleges but after graduation they are denied facilities like other officers.

“Even lecturers in colleges with masters in general subjects are appointed in BPS-18 but the doctors, who are referred to as cream of nation, don’t get opportunities of promotion,” officials said.

They said that most of such doctors were promoted to BPS-18 after working in BPS-17 for 23 years and only a few lucky ones got the chance to get promoted to BPS-19 and BPS-20.

Health Secretary Jamal Yousaf confirmed that a summary was prepared to approve a service structure for doctors. “We have already announced highest increase in allowances of doctors to make their jobs attractive. With a fortnight, we expect that the government will approve the service structure,” he said.

Mr Yousaf said that they were also working on a plan to improve their working conditions and give more incentives and facilities to the doctors. “We are strengthening the general and administrative cadre positions to improve healthcare in the province,” he added.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2016