PESHAWAR: The provincial health department is introducing ‘Public Expenditure Tracking System’ to standardise deployment of human resources and allocation of budget to all health facilities and ensure better health services to the people.

The initiative is a component of the government’s public financial management reforms strategy which seeks to standardise placement of staff and financial resources to every department for bringing improvement in governance.

The health department established financial management cell (FMC) early this year to evaluate the budgetary allocation, expenditure and deployment of staff at the health facilities and enable the districts to make evidence-based budget for better patient care in the province.

The FMC conducted a study in Mardan last month which showed that some of the facilities had surplus staff and additional financial resources at their disposal while others faced shortage of staff and finances due to which the patient care couldn’t be improved to a desired level.

Health department set to launch ‘Public Expenditure Tracking System’

According to officials, the FMC gave a presentation to secretary health last week where he instructed to pilot a project titled ‘Public Expenditure Tracking System’ in Mardan district which could be replicated in other districts. All district level facilities in the province get budgetary and HR allocation.

They said that secretary health called for ensuring equitable distribution of financial and human resources among the district level health facilities. They said that in some districts like Haripur, Dera Ismail Khan, etc the health department had already established cost centre for every facility while the rest of districts were still dependent on the district health officers for petty financial and HR matters.

They said that the need for the new mechanism arose following a study which showed that health facilities didn’t get resources on the basis of need since long. Mardan, population-wise the second largest district of the province, has 2,707 sanctioned posts for 79 health facilities, including 19 civil dispensaries, 50 basic health units, four rural health centres, five category ‘D’ civil hospitals and one category ‘C’ tehsil headquarters hospital, which can provide better services, if rationalised.

Currently, in Mardan the malaria control programme gets Rs19.75 million, administrative matters Rs38.58 million, type ‘D’ hospital Rs381.72 million, mother and child care Rs2.79 million, other health facilities Rs8.68 million, expanded programme on immunisation Rs26.99 million, drug control Rs5.24 million, RHCs Rs48.37 million, BHUs Rs130.81 million, civil dispensaries Rs34.03 million, drug addict treatment centre Rs2.91 million, TB Control Programme Rs8.70 million and tehsil headquarters hospital, Takht Bhai, Rs89.23 million.

There is no breakup to suggest the allocation of budget and staff for facilities, and in a small outlet there are senior people while the large facilities face problems due to absence of senior staff.

On the basis of the study, the department has started standardisation of facilities and human resources and to end disparity at the facility level. It also revealed that a senior doctor of BPS-19 deployed in a small facility could be posted in a place where his services were required the most.

After Mardan, the department will replicate the project in Swabi and Kohat districts. The new system is aimed at ascertaining if the money allocated for certain areas was being spent or not.

Health secretary Abid Majeed told Dawn that the exercise was meant to know whether the money allocated to health facilities was need-based, how it was spent and if the purpose for its allocation was achieved.

“In the light of the study, I have ordered to place the staff where they are actually required,” he said, adding that through this they would be able to forecast the real needs of the health facilities for future.

Mr Majeed said that there would be cost centre in each and every facility as opposed to the current system where all facilities looked towards the district health officers for financial and staff requirements.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2017