ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Friday expressed serious concerns over the matters pertaining to the Pakistan Nursing Council (PNC), saying the panel was unable to understand how the nursing regulatory body was working without an authentic record of the affiliated institutions and proper paperwork.
The Sub-Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Co-ordination held its meeting here under the convenorship of Senator Rubina Khalid to discuss the matter of a stay order obtained from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the unanimous recommendations of the Senate committee regarding the repatriation of the deputy registrar of the PNC by the Ministry of National Health Services and Regulation removal from the department.
Briefing the panel, the officials of the Ministry of National Health Services said that the IHC has issued a stay order in favour of the deputy registrar, therefore, the ministry has not removed him from the current position.
The committee regretted the non-provision of upgraded data of the list of all nursing institutes and their affiliations/registered with hospitals, and said that the delay in the provision is beyond understanding. Senator Rubina Khalid asked how come an institute could run without paperwork and a record. She said registrations are central to the nursing council and its provision should never be unavailable.
Senator Jam Mehtab said that as per policy an employee of the Health Department cannot be an owner of a nursing college and sought the details of the process of registration of institutes found bogus in the previous meeting.
While discussing the performance of these institutions, the committee members said that the provided record on the surprise inspection reflects that these visits were not surprised but managed. The sub-committee convener Senator Rubina commented that it has been reported that these inspections are now dealt with under the table on demand of Rs 2.5 million.
The committee lamented the system through which Pakistan’s health sector is working and said that immediate action and surveillance were required because this negligence can become the fate of any person, she added. Responding to the statement of Rubina Khalid, the PNC vice president said that as yet no evidence of this menace was found, however, if any person was found guilty, the license will be cancelled on the spot.
The sub-committee deliberated at length on improving the standard of nursing institutions and also inquired about changes in curriculum. The committee was apprised that the nursing council does not offer diploma anymore and said that initially the curriculum was regulated by the PMDC but ever since it has reverted into four-year Honors degree, the curriculum is now regulated by the HEC and therefore, invited the HEC to give a briefing on the new syllabus and also the infrastructure of the nursing institutes.
The committee also examined the nursing practices internationally. The officials of the PNC apprised that out of the total credit hours 60 percent is practical, the committee emphasized that the curriculum of training institutes in Pakistan should also be more practical and skills-based. It was also emphasised that all private and public healthcare institutions should establish nursing hospitals and remarked that trained nurses are the backbone of the health sector.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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