PESHAWAR: The suspension of free treatment on Sehat Card Plus is likely to trigger exodus of consultants from medical teaching institutions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, especially from Peshawar Institute of Cardiology where most of the specialists have arrived from abroad.

Share in profit from Sehat Card Plus served as a great incentive for consultants but now it dried up completely, the chairman of Board of Governors at one of medical teaching institutions (MTIs) told Dawn.

He said that State Life Insurance Corporation (SLIC), the implementer of the free treatment programme, owed Rs2 billion to Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) and Rs1.4 billion to Peshawar Institute of Cardiology (PIC) but the amount was unlikely to be paid in the near future. Since the start of the current year, SLIC used to suspend the programme for non-payment of dues by the government but the treatment was re-started after assurance of clearing the dues, he added.

The government has to pay Rs17 billion to the insurer to enable it to distribute the money among the empanelled hospitals but the outstanding dues by the hospitals were mounting with every passing day, prompting many of the MTIs to suspend the services.

All the MTIs have been sending letters to SLIC to clear their dues in lieu of SCP so that it could be given to the consultants and continue services and facilitate free treatment of patients.

Govt has to pay Rs17bn to implementer of scheme

LRH, PIC, Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) have already stopped admitting patients on SCP because these hospitals have been facing server financial crunch and cannot pay to the vendors from whom they purchase medicines and other medical supplies for patients treated under the cashless treatment initiative.

PIC, established in 2020, has been treating most patients on SCP by cardiologists, who have arrived from the US and UK. It is likely to face exodus of consultants after losing the incentives in the shape of share they receive from income generated through the health insurance programme. Same is true for LRH where many consultants, especially cardiologists are weighing options of quitting their jobs.

“I have joined job in Peshawar where I received Rs200,000 as monthly salary. A consultant recruited in any MTI is not allowed private practice outside the hospital. The SCP was a big incentive from which we earned good amount but after its stoppage, it is difficult to work on this salary,” a consultant at one of the MTIs told Dawn.

He said that there was great anxiety and frustration among the faculty and he would not be surprised if there was an exodus soon. “We are losing a lot of nursing staff to Middle East while it is in my knowledge that many other technical staffers are also making efforts to leave the country,” he added.

He said that a big chunk of staff’s share was stuck in the unreleased funds by SLIC.

A senior consultant said that recently government decided to restrict free health services under the programme to 65 per cent population instead of all residents of the province. He said that the government should at least release the outstanding amount to SLIC for distribution among the empanelled hospitals.

The cardiology department of LRH is at the verge of closure because the hospital has run out of funds to provide services to routine patients.

Other MTIs too have limited their elective services owing to shortage of funds. Employees in many MTIs are yet to get their last month’s salaries owing to delay in release of regular budgets by the government.

“MTIs have restricted elective services to save medicines and disposable items for the treatment of critically-injured and ill patients,” a medical director of a teaching hospital told this scribe.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2023