PESHAWAR, Sept 21: The provincial health department has, in principle, agreed to restore the share of staff in income from user charges in public hospitals, officials said here on Tuesday.

The government had abolished the share of doctors and paramedical staff in October 2003 followed by a formal notification issued on Oct 17, 2003. The decision had affected the income of staff, including pathologists, radiologists, laboratory assistants, technicians, radiographers and dispensers at all government-run hospitals in the province.

It was learnt that senior radiologists and pathologists had also written a letter to the provincial chief secretary requesting for the restoration of their share.The health department on March 24, constituted a review committee, headed by the dean of the Post-Graduate Medical Institute (PGMI), Prof Dr Arshad Javaid, to review the decision.

The committee comprises of chief executives of the Khyber Teaching Hospital, Lady Reading Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex, and heads of the radiology and pathology departments.

The committee, an official at the health department said, had submitted its report to the health secretary in April, calling for the restoration of the paramedical staff's share.

The committee suggested that restoration of share was important as its abolition had affected the performance of diagnostic units of the public sector hospitals. It had recommended a revised formula for sharing user charges with the staff. Previously, the income from the user charges was split at a ratio of 60:40 (government: staff).

Under the recommended revised formula, sources said, the cost of the investigation would be reimbursed to the government while the rest of the amount thus generated would be shared by the government, doctors, paramedics and respective hospitals.

According to the new formula, the user charges would now be split with 40 per cent going to the government, 40 per cent reserved for doctors, 15 per cent for paramedics and five per cent for the hospital.

It recommended a decrease in depreciation charges from the government's share in the evening shift, which would enable paramedics to draw a larger share. The committee also recommended that the share from fees paid by patients admitted to private rooms should be extended to the doctors and other subordinate staff, source told this correspondent.

Dr Arshad Javaid conceded that according to the summary prepared for cabinet's approval, paramedics would get more benefit than doctors, adding that the committee's suggestions were most likely to be implemented.

He said that health minister Inayatullah Khan and secretary health Dr Ihsanul Haq had agreed on the restoration of the staff's share from hospital's income, adding that a formal notification would be issued after the cabinet's approval. "We have already sent a summery to Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani seeking his approval," he said.