KP Govt. ready to increase doctors salaries: Pervez Khattak

PESHAWAR, Nov 5 (APP): Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak
has said that the KP government is ready to increase the salaries of
doctors by two to three times to fill the vacant posts in the health facilities of rural and remote areas.
He directed health department to suggest a comprehensive and
attractive incentives package for filling such posts.
He was presiding over a meeting regarding implementation of Medical
Training Institutes (MTI) Reforms in four major teaching hospitals of the province. The finance department should look into financial implications
of the proposal submitted by health department for granting financial incentives of Rs.40 to 140 thousand for existing specialist doctors,
medical officers, and Health Managers and Teaching cadres of three types
of hospitals at district level.
The Chief Minister directed the Board of Governors of these hospitals
to suggest necessary amendments in MTI Reforms Law as well as the Rules of Business (RoB) to remove impediments in utilization of the allocated
budget, hiring and firing of staff and procurement powers.
He also formed a committee comprising heads of Board of Governors
(BoGs) of the four hospitals under chairmanships of the provincial health minister in this regard and asked the committee to submit its recommendations by Tuesday next when matters pertaining to health reforms will be decided once for all, he declared.
He constituted another committee with the Chief Secretary as its head
to suggest measures for implementing the MTI reforms.
The Chief Minister directed that barriers in utilizing the released
budget of Rs.1.8 billion to four major tertiary hospitals of the province be removed and if required separate RoBs be framed on priority basis on
the line of certain other autonomous bodies like Bank of Khyber, TVETA,
PEDO and EZDMC etc.
Explaining his guidelines for equipping all hospitals and other health
centers of province with all necessary facilities and staff, the Chief Minister said that he was fully committed to bring all hospitals at par
with each other whether they are in urban or far flung rural areas.
Expressing dissatisfaction over health department performance to
address the issue of missing facilities and staff in civil hospitals of
the province, the Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said that all deadlines given to the department had been expired and now he would take final decision next week to correct the affairs of the hospitals and mitigate
the miseries being faced by the patients due to inadequate facilities and medical services.
He expressed the resolve that difficult and concrete decisions would
now be taken to ensure 100% fool-proof service delivery at government hospitals and in this connection he was even ready to double the strength
of the hospitals in terms of both the human resources and facilities. He said that all required financial resources will be made available to
achieve this purpose.
During the meeting the Chief Secretary Amjad Ali Khan explained that
BoGs of the major hospitals were fully authorized to retain any employee
or else they may hand over the incompetent or surplus personnel to the provincial government for posting them elsewhere in the province.
The meeting was told that district and other hospitals of the province
were facing shortage of 32% of the total sanctioned strength of specialist doctors, 49% dental surgeons, 69% medical officers, 53% nurses and 80% paramedics. In order to overcome this shortage hiring of 393 district specialists and 609 female nurses was in progress while 321 medical
officers had been appointed. It was further informed that 900 posts of paramedics have also been created.
The health department also presented a proposal during the meeting for
creating 4271 more new positions of MOs, dental surgeons and other staff which would cost an additional amount of Rs.2153 million every year.