PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has outsourced eight hospitals, including six in newly-merged tribal districts and two in Chitral, to nongovernmental organisations for three years to improve their performance for better patient care.

Agreements for the purpose were signed at the offices of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Foundation here on Friday.

The hospitals, all Type D ones, are located in Toikhula and Mola Khan Srai Sarokai areas of South Waziristan tribal district, Dogar area of Kurram tribal district, Mamad Gat area of Mohmand tribal district, Darazinda area of former Frontier Region Dera Ismail Khan, Ghiljo area of Orakzai tribal district and Mastung and Garam Chashma areas of Chitral district.

Four of them will be managed by the Medical Emergency Resilience Foundation (Merf), two by the Aga Khan Health Services and one each by Transcontinental and National Integrated Development Association (Nida).

Finance and health minister Taimur Khan Jhagra presided over the agreement signing ceremony, a statement said.

Special assistant to the chief minister Ghazan Jamal was also present.

Mr Jhagra said one of his first targets set for the Health Foundation after he assumed the charge was to outsource those health facilities.

He congratulated HF managing director Dr Jan Baz Afridi and his team for completing the process ‘swiftly and transparently’.

“The outsourcing of eight hospitals is important for two main reasons. First, it will enhance service delivery in these districts, especially during the pandemic, and secondly, it is in line with the prime minister’s vision to improve health services,” he said.

The minister said there should be more public-private partnerships in the province.

He said there was a big responsibility for both public and private sectors to deliver on the programme and thus, setting a strong pathway for future public-private partnerships.

“This programme must serve as a role model for future public-private partnerships, and these hospitals must set a high standard for service delivery,” he said.

The minister said if the outsourced hospitals increased the standard of service, there would be a healthy competition, where public sector hospitals would also further improve service.

He said he would follow up on the key next steps and timelines to successfully implement the programme.

“The partners organisations will receive funding and staff from the government and will be responsible for machinery, equipment and specialist doctors for the benefits of the people,” he said.

The chief minister’s aide, Ghazan Jamal, said the Mishti Mela hospital in Orakzai tribal district had successfully been run on the basis of public-private partnership and that it had performed surgeries for the first time, including those related to gynaecology and obstetrics.

He thanked the PTI’s leadership, including Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and health minister Taimur Khan Jhagra, for expanding the model to provide immediate health relief and high-quality health services to the under-served areas in tribal districts.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2020