To ensure quality health service delivery to the public by improving the overall performance of the public sector health service delivery outlets in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, an Independent Monitoring Unit (IMU) has been established is health department with the mandate to regularly monitor/evaluate the performance of the public sector health care facilities and take measures to improve quality of services therein. Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak formally inaugurated the IMU.
Besides provincial ministers Shahram Khan Tarakai and Atif Khan, the function was attended by high ups of health and finance departments, health monitors, representatives of DFID and media persons is large number.
The project of IMU has been reflected in the provincial ADP 2014-15 with an outlay of Rs.478.9million seeking to give complete picture of the service in government facilities under the project a total of 175 health monitors have been lived on merit basis though National Testing Services with seven monitors for each district. The three years project is also meant to collect date about the health care outlets with regard to their location, facilities available and problem being faced therein.
The move will identify problem hampering the working of health facilities and issues which affect the better service delivery of these facilities. It merits a mention here that the province has more than 1600 government-run health facilities where 63000 employees are working but the quality of services is quite unsatisfactory just because the lack of a robust monitoring mechanisms.
The IMU will operate through a dashboard system where data from everywhere in the province will be displayed to high-ups of the health department. The monitors with checklist on their mobile phones will conduct daily visits to the facilities where they will check indicators already listed on their mobile phones and will send the data to the IMU.
The monitor will check a availability of the staff, medicines, water, electricity, cleanliness etc at the facility and will also inform authorities about the numbers of patients, staff and resources available there. The monitoring system will help the government to take evidence- based decisions and make full utilization of these health care facilities and improved their performance.
Not only health facilities, but the IMU will also monitor the performance of district health officers and other management hierarchy. To make it totally independent, it will not be accountable to the director general health services but would rather report to secretary and Minister of the Department.
Addressing the function as chief guest the Chief Minister termed the establishment of IMU as milestone towards improving the quality of services in public sector hospitals up to the needs and desires of the public and said that the present Provincial Government had made necessary legislation to improve the overall performance of health care facilities, and implementation of the same had begun.
He made it clear it that laws and policies introduced in the government hospitals would be implemented at all costs adding that those who do not follow these laws and policies would be dealt with iron hands. He urged upon the need of eliminating spurious drugs, unregistered clinics and practice of non-qualified doctors in the province and directed the high ups to put in place a separate monitoring system for the purpose.
The function was also addressed but Provincial Minister for Health Shahram Khan Tarakai, Minister for Education Atif Khan, Secretary Health Mushtaq Jadoon and other speakers.
