PESHAWAR, Oct 3: The government has failed to implement a law aimed at granting financial and administrative autonomy to four hospitals in the province, it is learnt.

The provincial assembly had passed the NWFP Medical and Health Institutes Reforms Act on October 13, 1999, which was promulgated in 2002. According to the law, the provincial government was required to give grant-in-aid to the Khyber Teaching Hospital, Lady Reading Hospital, Hayatabad Medical Complex (Peshawar) and Ayub Teaching Hospital (Abbottabad); introduce public-private partnership and give competitive salaries to staff in order to improve the healthcare system.

However, even after a lapse of eight years, the law has not been implemented. For instance, the law stated that the provincial government would not interfere into the affairs of institutions and instead be run by the Institution Management Council.

Each hospital would be headed by a chief executive with 10 years of experience and who would be selected through advertisements, the law stated. However, the posts of the chief executive were being held by professors, who had earlier run the institutions as administrators before the enactment of the law.

“Professors and officers in the health secretariat and directorate don’t want to lose control of the hospitals. Both groups fear that their influence would fade away in case a qualified administrator was appointed as the chief executive,” a source said. He said the law clearly stated that no person would be appointed on the administrative post, but professors were working on such posts.

Additionally, after the law, hospitals were to function as autonomous bodies and transfer and promotions etc., were to be made by the IMC, but the secretariat and directorate are still doing it.