PESHAWAR - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Health and Information Shaukat Ali Yousafzai has assured the doctors community that their problems will be solved on priority basis.
He said the doctors would be provided better working conditions. He said the doctors were an important segment of the society and were associated with a sacred profession of health therefore they should serve the ailing humanity devotedly.
He was talking to delegations of Young Doctors Association (YDA) and Provincial Doctors Association (PDA) that called on him in Peshawar on Monday. Members of the delegations apprised the minister of their problems and grievances. They also presented him their suggestions for making the patient services more effective and assured full support in bringing change in the society particularly in health sector as per manifesto of the PTI. The minister said the patient was the main focus of their health policy and provision of better facilities was their mission.
He said if they failed to serve the patients, then existence of the entire health department was useless. "In order to improve healthcare services in the public sector hospitals, the management cadre will be separated and the people related to this cadre will be given special training," he added.
Yousafzai categorically declared that the doctors needed to perform their duty as defined under the law and there would be no injustice with any doctor wither he was senior or junior. He said their privileges would be increased but the doctors must show efficiency.  He stated that provision of better healthcare was the legal right of the patients and no leniency on the part of doctors would be tolerated in this connection.
Referring to the decision of ban on the private practice of senior and junior registrars, Shaukat Yousafzai said that the purpose of this decision was to make the evening shifts in the hospitals very strong and ensure timely provision of medical facilities to the patients in the evening as well. He said the government would allow them to do practice inside the hospitals but the doctors would deposit Rs100 fee into the hospital funds.
Regarding the dissolution of the management council, the minister said the purpose behind this decision was to make purchase of the medicines transparent and to curb supply of substandard drugs into the hospitals. He said a large number of complaints were being received regarding use of substandard drugs in the hospitals. He said a model hospital was also being under process for which they were in touch with different better private medical institutions. He said a delegation of the Shaukat Khanum Hospital would also visit the province this week. Referring to the shortage of doctors in the hospitals, he said the vacant posts would be filled on emergency basis soon.