PESHAWAR: The health department has decided to give incentives to doctors to promote institution-based practice at Hayatabad Medical Complex and Khyber Teaching Hospital on the pattern of Lady Reading Hospital.

“It is very important to award incentives to the doctors doing IBP at medical teaching institutions. There should be healthy competition among the MTIs to improve quality of services within the lowest charges from the market to attract more patients,” said Prof Nausherwan Burki, who is spearheading implementation of Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act, 2015.

The new law was enforced by the provincial government to bring reforms in health sector. Under IBP, patients are examined at MTIs after paying consultation fee in the afternoon. The consultants engaged in IBP were promised monetary benefits so they could shut their private clinics.

However, only LRH-based consultants get incentives while the doctors at KTH and HMC are yet to get the same.

Currently only consultants at Lady Reading Hospital get incentives

“The chief minister has agreed to give incentives to all consultants in any hospital for IBP. We are considering a plan under which the MTIs would give incentives to the IBP consultants from the funds generated through users’ charges,” said Prof Nausherwan.

He said that it was also in the notice of PTI chief Imran Khan, who had directed the provincial government to award additional amount to the IBP consultants.

“The MTIs can earn good amount from laboratories,” he added.

About the slow progress on MTIRA at KTH, he said that they were considering inducting an active and trustworthy member of the Board of Governors, who could keep liaison with the chairman for speeding up the reform process. “There are some good steps at KTH the results of which can be visible within six months,” he added.

Asked if he favoured a resolution passed by the provincial assembly and a subsequent notification by chief minister to appoint a female doctor as principal of Khyber Girls Medical College, he said that he generally agreed with the proposal but would discuss it with relevant authorities to take a decision in that regard.

Prof Nausherwan, who is also the chairman of BoG of LRH, said that they had decided to streamline patients’ load at the outpatients department (OPD) to improve patients’ care.

“Most of the patients visit OPD from 8am to 9am that causes rush.

So we have decided that every patient would be given time for checkup once they make slips at the counter.

This would benefit the patients,” he said.

Prof Nausherwan said that another programme they were piloting at cardiothoracic department was that patients would be given time and date for follow-ups after they were discharged from the hospital.

He claimed that LRH was the only hospital in the country with a full-fledged pharmacy department where patients got quality medicines. “We have also developed physiotherapy department of LRH to an international standard,” he added.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2017