PESHAWAR: Power breakdown and illegal occupation of spaces by other departments have been affecting patient care at six hospitals operating under the public-private partnership programme in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to an official document.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has been contracting out its underperforming health facilities in the province to private organisations for management under Public-Private Partnership Act, 2016, to improve patient care. It has so far, outsourced 19 health facilities to private organisations but of late there is shortage of funding due to which the employees of these hospitals have not been paid salaries for the last few months.

The government has been outsourcing hospitals through the public sector Health Foundation and it is obligatory upon the partner organisations to ensure availability of specialist doctors and other staff at the health facilities to provide better services to patients.

“Of the outsourced facilities, nine have not been paid by the government,” sources said. They said that on June 8, the caretaker cabinet approved Rs932 million for the hospitals that had not been paid so far. The health department is awaiting response of the finance department to a letter sent to it on June 12 for release of the amount.

Other departments have also occupied spaces illegally in these health facilities, says document

As the funding issue continues, the occupation of spaces and electricity breakdown have been hampering healthcare in six of the facilities.

According to a report by the Health Foundation, National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has established its offices in type D Hospital Razmak in North Waziristan tribal district and type D Hospital Mamond in Bajaur tribal district due to which the doctors, especially female staff, is finding it hard to stay in the hospitals.

These outsourced hospitals are located in far flung areas and the partner organisations have been urging the health department to vacate the offices so that they could provide accommodation to their staff and ensure healthcare services in night shifts.

The document shows that personnel of law enforcement agencies have been using the spaces insides Dasu district headquarters hospital in Upper Kohistan due to which the presence of staff couldn’t be ensured to a desired level.

It says that express power lines haven’t been made operational in type D Hospital Alizai in Kurram and district headquarters hospital Wana, South Waziristan, due to which the services couldn’t be carried out continuously.

Sources said that without electricity, investigations could not be carried out and machines had gone into disuse, forcing the patients to seek treatment in other districts or at private clinics.

The communication and works department is yet to properly hand over the hospitals buildings of district headquarters hospitals in Dassu, Kohistan, and Bazaar Zakhakhel, Khyber, to the health department despite completion of construction work, according to the document.

It points out that there is still lack of coordination and monitoring among health, finance, communication and works and law departments due to which the issues relating to the outsourced facilities couldn’t be resolved that impact patient care. Other matters relating to amendments to the rules and law are required to pave the way for smooth-sailing of the public-private partnership in the province, it adds.

The document says that release of funds in a timely manner is another issue, which is negatively affecting the programme. It says clarity is required on outsourcing policy, cash flow mechanism and roles of district administration and health department to improve the public-private partnership in addition to the required amendments to the law along with addressing the grievances of patients.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2023