Can MTI system deliver in Islamabad?

ISLAMABAD: Can the federal government deliver on its promised reforms in the health sector through the Medical Teaching Institute (MTI) Act in the federal capital? The employees of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) believe this experiment is bound to fail as it is not pro-people.

Dr Faisal Sultan – Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination — however, believes one of the core reasons of PTI’s success in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the introduction of MTI system to serve the people of Pakistan, especially the poor segment of the society.

After the promulgation of Federal MTI Act 2020 in November last year, the PIMS staff formed a Federal Grand Health Alliance (FGHA) comprising medical, nursing, paramedics and non-medical staff. The FGHA is protesting against the introduction of this act in the federal capital.

The FGHA office bearers have raised concerns and highlighted some of the points which they deem as controversial and not in public interest. According to these protesting officials, the MTI system has already failed in KPK. The entire country had seen that the hospital under the same MTI ran out of oxygen as a result of which six Covid-19 patients died. The patient ratio in PIMS is much higher than the KP hospitals. “If they could not manage relatively smaller hospitals in KP, then how could they run such a huge hospital,” commented the GHA office bearer while talking to this scribe.

“Can you imagine the level of conflict of interest in the recent appointment of the Board of Governors? The PTI government has appointed that person as the chairman of the board who is a member of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the ruling party. Interestingly, the chairman has not a single day’s experience of working in any government hospital. Not a single person from the board has any prior experience of running such a large hospital,” he commented.

On December 07, 2020 the government appointed four members of the board, including Dr. Humayun Mohmand. The board then selected Dr. Mohmand as its Chairman who is a member of PTI CEC. The protesting employees believe that the government is trying to induct its party workers and members of Insaf Doctors Forum in the garb of a new system. “At a time when the entire world is paying tributes to healthcare workers who are fighting Coronavirus, our government chose to fight against the healthcare staff. When the second wave of this pandemic was at its peak and the medical staff needed to focus more on Covid-19, the government directed our attention toward this unjust action. Now instead of treating the patients, we are protesting on road against the ill-timed ordinance,” said the PIMS office bearer.

Talking to this scribe Dr Faisal Sultan said those making hue and cry over the MTI are either unaware of the meaning of a ‘Corporate body’ or they are deliberately protesting for their vested interests. “The ‘Corporate Body’ in the Act doesn’t mean that the PIMS will be privatized. It rather means that there will be an independent body to supervise the hospital affairs so that everyone can get equal and fair treatment,” clarified Dr. Faisal.

About the protesters’ grievances on reduction of their perks and privileges under the MTI system, Dr. Faisal said he is ready to give a written assurance that their perks and privileges will not be reduced at all. If they have any doubts on the word ‘corporate body’, he can sit with them and find an alternate word to replace it.

“The MTI system is very successful in KP. Prime Minister Imran Khan himself admitted in his speeches that his party’s success in the province was because of the MTI system. We are talking about the ownership of institutions. The BoG will oversee the hospital affairs and make sure that everyone gets equal treatment,” remarked Dr. Faisal.

The SAPM further says, “During my meeting with the protesting employees of PIMS, I assured them that the government will include one or two office bearers from PIMS.” He confirmed that Dr. Mohmand is a member of PTI CEC but other board members who selected him as chairman have nothing to do with the government.

Dr Sultan also confirmed it is true that Dr. Mohmand has no prior experience of working in any government hospital but he has been on the board of KP MTI. “We do not want to target the PIMS staff or harm them. We want better management of the public sector hospitals. The protesters should not stop those who want to serve the poor patients and do not wish to be part of these protests. But they are not letting anyone enter the hospital,” said Dr. Faisal.

The GHA Spokesperson, Dr Haider Abbasi, while talking to this scribe, said that last year the government tried to introduce this act. However, Dr. Zafar Mirza – the then SAPM assured them that no such action will be taken without taking the PIMS employees into confidence. He constituted a 12-member committee comprising six members from the government and six from PIMS to negotiate on this matter. However, no meeting of the committee was held. After the resignation of Dr. Mirza, the government introduced this ordinance without even taking the PIMS employees into confidence.

“We held a meeting with Dr. Faisal Sultan who assured us that our just demands will be fulfilled. We have demanded the government that those employees appointed under the civil service act should not be removed. And those (from the existing employees) who want to avail the option of MTI or civil service should be given a free hand to choose one. The government should not force them”, commented Dr. Haider.

“Our second demand is that there should be a proper criteria for the promotion of officials appointed under the Civil Service Act. Our third demand is that the government should remove the word Corporate Body from the act as according to legal experts this word is dangerous. Similarly, all the services in the emergency department are given free of cost to the patients. But after the promulgation of this act, the poor patients will not get the same treatment as they were getting earlier,” said the GDA spokesperson.