PESHAWAR: Nowshera Medical College is the first public sector medical school of the province where all employees have been recruited under Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act (MTIRA), 2015.
Classes of the first batch of MBBS students at Nowshera Medical College (NMC) have been started after prolonged delay. In past, recruitment in such institutions used to be made by health department.
Unlike other medical colleges and their constituent hospitals where government has been facing problems to execute MTIRA owing to resistance by employees, who moved court against the law, NMC and the newly-built Qazi Hussain Ahmed Memorial Hospital will have smooth sailing like starting institution-based practice, under the new law and take decisions locally.
The college, which began classes on December 27 with 100 students, was inspected by a delegation of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council on November 30. The college will get recognition after next visit of the delegation within a month as the delegation has shown satisfaction over availability of the desired infrastructure.
Classes of first batch of MBBS students started at college after prolonged delay
The college had admitted 85 students in line with the merit list prepared by the joint action committee for the public sector medical colleges from the last entrance test while eight students were inducted on self-finance basis. Three seats out of seven for foreign students have been filled so far.
The government faced protests by the employees of four teaching hospitals — three in Peshawar and one in Abbottabad — owing to the new law, passed by the provincial assembly last year. Agitations and court wrangling is the main hurdle in way of smooth sailing of the new law because the employees argue that they have been appointed by the government and not the institutions.
In contrast, MTIRA was fully in place in NMC and QHAMH from day one as the employees, who were appointed under it, couldn’t challenge its execution.
Prof Mohammad Tahir, the principal of NMC, told Dawn that the 400-bed hospital named after Jamaat-i-Islami former chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who sanctioned it a decade ago, would have eight specialists each for medicines, eye, ENT, paediatric surgery, gynea and obstetrics, orthopedics. The hospital will provide 24-hour health facilities to about one million people of the area.
“We have also appointed plastic surgeons, neuro surgeons, cardiologists and maxillofacial and paediatric surgeons to provide all tertiary-care services to the people,” he said.
Prof Tahir said that a total of 16 specialties would be made available in the hospital where Memorandum of Understanding had been signed with different firms for provision of diagnostic, security and cleanliness services to the patients.
The government introduced Public-Private Partnership Act, 2012 to start installation of machines in collaboration with private firms to ensure that equipment don’t go out of order and people get smooth services.
“We have installed MRI, CT scan and high-tech pathology equipment under the public private partnership and the concerned firm will be responsible for repair, maintenance, personnel and electricity cost,” he said.
Prof Tahir said that patients would get health services at government rates. The Board of Governors holds regular meetings since its formation in February. “We are also making decisions. The old 150-bed district headquarters hospital will also serve as teaching facility for NMC,” he added.
Prof Tahir said that presently the college was located in temporary space at the second floor of the hospital that would be shifted to its new building in August.
Published in Dawn January 2nd, 2017
