PESHAWAR: Health department has decided to provide free investigation and healthcare services to people above the age of 65 in all district headquarters hospitals of the province.

According to a notification issued here on Tuesday, the additional director-general health services of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has instructed all the medical superintendents of district headquarters hospitals to ensure that elderly people receive freer diagnostic services and treatment. For this purpose, separate screening rooms should be established in out-patients departments (OPDs) to extend free services to people aging 65 years and above.

Citing the directives issued by Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur during a meeting held last month, the notification has said that district headquarters hospitals should provide free screening services to the target population every three months.

The notification titled ‘Executive health checkup initiative free healthcare to all people above 65 years on quarterly basis’ has mentioned that the beneficiaries of the scheme should avail these services free of charge. It has also instructed the hospitals to establish heat stroke unit including cold room to ensure timely medication to people affected by stroke.

Sources say such directives have been issued in the past but not enforced

These services include general health screening, laboratory tests, X-ray, MRI, CT scan, echocardiography (ECG), exercise tolerance test (ETT) and ultrasound on need basis. Health department has set a seven-day deadline for the hospitals to comply with the directives in the best interest of people.

Sources, however, said that such directives had been issued in the past too but the compliance level had not been observed. They said that a few months ago, the government instructed the hospitals to ensure free services to people aging 60 or above but the directive fell on deaf ears.

They said that the nitrification issued in the past had also asked the hospitals to set up separate counters for elderly people so they could receive OPD chits without facing problems. However, they said, elderly people continued to stay for longer periods in queues at the hospitals to receive slips and undergo checkups. They added that most of the investigations mentioned in the notification were not offered at district headquarters hospitals and only routine blood tests and ECG could be conducted there.

“All the district headquarters hospitals don’t have the services of cardiologists and related tests due to which these directives can’t be enforced in totality,” sources said.

The government has already passed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Citizen Welfare Act in 2014 with a view to provide facilities to elderly people in the province for their wellbeing, comfort and dignity. According to it, the government will provide free health and social welfare services to people above 60. Health and social welfare departments are required to ensure the implementation of the law but the situation remains unchanged and elderly people continue to visit hospitals like other people and youth.

“Now, health department has ordered to cover people above 65 but the directives have been issued only to district headquarters hospitals and medical teaching institutions have been exempted which is against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Citizen Welfare Act, 2014,” sources said.

They said that government was providing free health services to in-patients on Sehat Card Plus but it wanted to provide cashless services to elderly people at out-patient department, which was not covered under free healthcare insurance scheme.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2024