Public-sector health physicians going on foreign visits: Provision of affidavits will be made mandatory

ISLAMABAD: The federal government to ensure accountability and dedication of doctors to their professional duties is mulling to make provision of affidavits mandatory for public sector health physicians before going on foreign visits stating that they were personally sponsoring them.

Federal Secretary Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSR&C) Iftikhar Ali Shallwani said this while chairing a high-level meeting concerning administrative, financial matters, and the performance assessment of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) here on Monday.

While underscoring the importance of curbing overseas travel on sponsored visits for doctors, Shalwani said that public sector doctors should provide an affidavit before going to any foreign visits that “he/she was personally bearing all the costs”.

Shallwani has emphasized the importance of ensuring the highest standards of healthcare delivery, and availability of doctors and medicine within hospitals. The secretary directed the PIMS administration to elevate its standards of public service delivery.

Senior PIMS’ official, while briefing the National Health Services secretary on the pressing issue of human resource shortages affecting the performance of the biggest health facility of the region which is not just catering to the needs of the federal capital but patients from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Pothohar region are all referred to the hospital, said that the health facility immediately needs critical staff.

The meeting was informed that only the outdoor patient department of the PIMS was daily checking around 15,000 patients arriving from far-flung areas of the country.

In response, Shallwani directed the administration of PIMS to accelerate the recruitment process for personnel to address the growing patient influx effectively. Furthermore, the secretary was apprised that 107 vacancies for professors, associate professors, and assistant professors had already been advertised, with efforts underway to fill 405 positions for nurses and medical officers.

The secretary while expressing serious displeasure over disciplinary matters concerning doctors said that the private practice of doctors employed by the government should be discouraged and must be minimized as they are being paid competitive salaries from the national kitty.

Shallwani instructed the PIMS administration to ensure efficient healthcare provision and maintain professional conduct within the medical fraternity. He emphasized the necessity of rigorously enforcing disciplinary measures within the hospital’s workforce. He instructed the PIMS administration to submit a comprehensive report detailing actions taken against employees found to be in breach of disciplinary protocols.

The secretary issued clear directives to the PIMS administration to intensify their efforts to enhance patient facilitation during the sacred month of Ramazan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024