KPK govt. all set to give dissenting doctors a taste of their own medicine
KP Government has invoked the Essential Services Act 1958 in all Teaching Hospitals in the province.
Dunya News Report (Madiha Fareed)
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhawa Government has invoked the Essential Services Act 1958 in all Teaching Hospitals in the province following a Peshawar High Court Order of Dec 7, 2015. The Act bounds the medical employees to perform their duties as per the rules and prohibits them from engaging in any kind of strikes that could disrupt smooth functioning of the public hospitals. In case of non-compliance, the employees could lose their jobs, face financial penalty and jail time of up to one year.
Peshawar High Court asked the provincial government to use its powers to implement the much needed law by imposing the Essential Services Act 1958 and make the lives of KPK residents easier, while giving verdict on stay order requests filed by doctors.
KPK Health Minister Shahram Tarakai announced on Monday that government is already falling behind the schedule in terms of reforming the Health infrastructure in KPK. He added that the government has tried every avenue to bring the handful of dissenting doctors on board. He hinted a legal action against the protesting employees. As of today, reports have surfaced that government has issued show-cause notices to almost 400 employees.
The strike by doctors and paramedics has paralyzed the functioning of three major government Hospitals in the provincial capital including the Lady Reading Hospital, Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) and Khyber Teaching Hospital. Doctors have seized the activity in all wards except the emergency, forcing the ailing patients to protest against the strike.
What is MTI?
It all started when the KPK assembly unanimously passed Medical Teaching Institutions Reform Act 2015 in January 2015, which laid out a management structure which will give autonomy to the 9 teaching hospitals in the province to make their own decisions in a way that the MTIs will not have to rush to the ministry to solve petty issues.
According to the Act, each MTI will have a Board of Governors (BoG), appointed by Search and Nomination Council. The government will periodically evaluate the performance of BoG against the set targets related to efficiency, effectiveness and equity.
Contrary to the misconception speculated in the media, the MTI reforms Act does not privatize the hospitals but lays out a new administrative mechanism to oversee the policy making, financial matters, and expansion of the hospital and so on.
According to the Act, the doctors are given option regarding private practice as they can either continue their private practice in the government hospitals after their duty hours and they’ll be entitled to all the benefits and bonuses, in other case if they choose to continue their private practice outside hospital they’ll not be entitled to the bonuses and other benefits.
KPK health minister stated on Monday that the Act took a lot of hard work and underwent almost 120 amendments to satisfy the dissenting parties; He added that after the promulgation of the Act, it was challenged in the court; however the government won the six-month long legal battle. The court directed the K-P government to implement the act in its “true spirit .
PTI Chief
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Chief Imran Khan addressed a press conference in Peshawar on Tuesday clarifying that the ESA is imposed following the directives of Peshawar High Court. He went full wrestling heels saying that the doctors protesting against the government have their own private practices and they fear a business loss if government implements reforms in KPK hospitals.
Imran Khan elucidated that the Act aims to bring the government hospitals at par with the private sectors hospitals; he expressed concern that the patients have to go to the private laboratories for medical tests that should be available in the public hospitals despite a huge amount of money spent. Specifically quoting that govt. has provided 37 CT-scan machines in public hospital, none of which works and patients have to go to private labs for the essential tests, raising a big question mark on the efficiency of current system.
The ministers in federal government were quick to side with the striking Doctors and a senior PML-N leader and Advisor to PM Amir Muqam went himself to show solidarity with the striking employees, which is strange on two accounts, 1) The federal government has imposed the same bill less than a week ago and 2) The MTI Act was passed unanimously by KPK assembly which includes PML-N legislators too.
Bone of contention
The major dissenting parties are Health Employees Coordination Council (HECC) and Young Doctors Association (YDA). It is pertinent to note that the province’s largest doctors association Provincial Doctors Association (PDA) is not part of these protests.
Speaking to the Dunya News, Young Doctors Association’s patron in Chief Dr. Alamgir Khan Yousafzai said that YDA generally supports the MTI Act but it does not agree with the dissolution of PGMI (Post Graduate Medical Institute) which is a prestigious degree awarding institute in the province. The basic demands of the protestors are:
1. Govt. must not impose ESA
2. The PGMI must not be dissolved
3. The Doctors must be paid according to ILO rules (Provision of overtime payment)
4. Health Professional Allowance (Pay-risk allowance) must be paid to the hospital employees
Dr. Mohammed Salman, who is serving at Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) and also associated with Insaf Doctors Forum (IDF), said clearly that MTI Reforms Act is much needed and will improve the structure in government hospitals. He however stressed that the academic structure must be improved in Teaching Hospitals.
The public sentiment favors the government in this matter. For decades the poor people have suffered at the hands of inefficient management and they have been forced to avail the expensive health care facilities available in the private hospitals.
Is it fair to compare the situation with the PIA’s?
The federal government has already imposed Essential Services (maintenance) Act 1952 for six months barring the PIA employees from protesting and threatening them with legal action. PTI had opposed the imposing of ESA in that instance and had stressed that the government must bring the PIA privatization Bill in parliament for debate. Leaders of the ruling PML-N are bashing PTI for having dual standards on implementing the same Act. .
PTI leaders have rejected the notion that the two cases are similar, because KPK government has been negotiating with the dissenting doctors for over 2 years and has tried to incorporate their input as much as possible, 120 amendments in the Act are a proof of that; whereas the federal government has not once tried to listen to the concerns of PIA employees and has not brought the bill in parliament for debate, which reflects their dictatorial attitude.
According to PTI Chief, 95 percent of the doctors side with government on the issue and even if we were to believe independent sources, over 70 percent of the doctor’s side with government on this matter.
The ESA usually comes under criticism as it is deemed undemocratic for it robs citizens of their constitutional right to protest, and recently the Supreme Court of Pakistan called out Balochistan High Court for exceeding its authority on imposing the ESA on labor unions. KPK government’s stance holds weight in a sense that it has consulted all the stakeholders and negotiated with the dissenters before and after the passing of the bill to bring them on board with the proposed reforms.
The political pundits are calling it an unwise move from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf at this time as it will only divert attention from the PIA privatization issue on which the federal government has opted for a hardline-stance refusing to engage in any kind of dialogue with the protesting PIA employees. Even PTI’s own Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a tweet called it an “unnecessary and unwarranted move in the current circumstances” .
It is an uncontested fact that Doctors’ job is one of the toughest on the planet; the governments must do everything in their power to make their lives easier. However the doctors must respect their “noble” profession as well. After all it is not very heartening that one of the most skilled segments of the society is on the road protesting.
