The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has warned private hospitals that all their services will be suspended if they do not immediately resume cardiac procedures under the Sehat Card Plus (SCP) Program.
The suspension of cardiac surgeries at private hospitals in the province has resulted in several problems for the surging number of cardiac patients as there is a limited number of hospitals that provide these procedures.
The Pakistan Association of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons (PAC&TS) wrote to the government on 2 August, requesting a reevaluation of the current procedural costs of cardiovascular and thoracic surgeries. It explained that inflation had rendered treating even a single patient under the present SCP package unfeasible.
A health department official revealed, “Almost all the private hospitals having cardiac surgery departments have suspended cardiac procedures on Sehat Card Plus scheme and forcing patients to pay them in cash. The majority of the patients are poor and can’t afford the heavy cost of such procedures in the public and private hospitals”.
He added that the private hospitals’ doctors use delaying tactics to force patients to pay in cash and discourage them from availing cardiac surgeries under the government’s scheme, and claimed that private hospitals are earning 85 percent from the provincial government’s SCP program.
On the other hand, public hospitals lag behind due to a number of issues, apart from the Peshawar Institute of Cardiology (PIC) and the Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) which have Cardiac Surgery Departments under a public-private partnership (PPP). However, the HMC’s cardiac department does not cater to Sehat Card holders.
The CEO of the SCP program, Dr. Riaz Tanoli, has heeded the issue and warned that hospitals refusing to provide cardiac surgeries under the program will have their other services under it suspended.
He said, “We called an emergency meeting on Monday to sort out this important issue. Most of the private hospitals are running on Sehat Card and if they are not willing to provide cardiac surgery services, we will suspend all other services to them”.
Dr. Tanoli added that the SCP officials will consider the cardiac surgeons’ grievances and may revise the procedure costs if required.
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