Improve primary healthcare delivery system thru' planning

For the last few years it is strongly felt that there is a need for more frequent interaction among policy makers, healthcare managers and the clinicians to address the issues, which would assist the government in ensuring better healthcare services for the people of Pakistan.
Improvement primary healthcare delivery system is the answer to all health related problems faced by the people.
Decision-making should be based on facts and scientific evidence rather than individually driven. All organizations should develop strategic plans, which would provide them direction and lead achievements of goal, as planning is a fundamental art of management.
Health Technology Assessment (HTA) system should be used for scientific decision making and utilisation of scarce resources.
Formation of quality circles through multi-disciplinary team approach could help improve patient's safety and reduce medication errors. A standardized, cost effective and user-friendly medical record system for primary healthcare should be prompted. Better results could be expected through computerized information system that leads to reduction in errors and effective decision making.
Simple yet highly effective strategies for continuous quality improvement could be successfully applied in any healthcare organization to enhance patient satisfaction and employee safety, improve quality, increase productivity, save cost and improve work environment.
Project management in health services organizations is badly needed in Pakistan. Project base environment should be created by planning. We must adopt internationally available project methodologies.
The government is committed to give priority to health in its overall development strategy. The government is spending 0.98 percent of GDP on health sector, while Federal health budget has been increased to Rs. 10.5 billion.
Basic infrastructure is there but the major problem is to manage Rural Health Units (RHUs) and District Health Units (DHUs). To overcome this problem the government should train professionals in health management and customized training of district health managers.
There is serious gap between demand and available trained professionals in the hospitals including technicians, nurses, ward-boys, project managers etc.
And to bring about a change in the healthcare system of our country planning must also be required to utilizing that trained force.
It is quite evident that without structural reform measures, across a range of issues affecting the health sector, Pakistan's commitment to improve the health of poor cannot be met.
The government must consider rules making mandatory training in health management and planning before appointing doctors on managerial posts in hospitals and foreign funded projects.