PESHAWAR: The health and wellness division has actually put on hold free health services at six exclusive healthcare facilities for billing the people admitted under Sehat Sahulat Program (SSP) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

SSP Supervisor Dr Mohammad Riaz Tanoli informed this scribe that the cost-free solutions were suspended after issues were obtained from the people that they were billed by the health centers.

He said that all the locals of the province were entitled to complimentary medication under the programme yet those, who desired executive services or personal room, were not eligible for the free solutions.

” The clients wanting exclusive solutions from medical professionals, who aren’t empanelled, must sign a proforma available at the SSP desks at the entries of the health centers,” he said. He added the healthcare facilities were routed to discuss it to every person prior to admission.

Dr Riaz said that currently free services were put on hold at six hospitals for breaching the arrangements. He included that after getting grievances, they asked the medical facilities to return the money to the people due to the fact that it was a cashless programme but when the hospitals kept charging the individuals three times, they terminated their contracts.

Wellness dept acts over people’ complaints that they were being billed at the facilities

The patients continue to lodge complaints versus the exclusive health centers.

“I took my nephew to Rehman Medical Institute (RMI) a couple of days ago in emergency situation as well as transferred Rs30,000 prior to beginning of his treatment. The following day, we spoke to the SSP desk for his totally free therapy but we were informed that as soon as a patient was confessed as exclusive, after that she or he couldn’t be treated totally free,” Mahmood Jan Babar, a senior journalist, told in his complaint lodged with the wellness division.

He said that they spoke to the administration along with authorities of State Life insurance Firm (SLIC), which was applying SSP in behalf of the federal government, that the client had legitimate identification card of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and also was qualified free of cost treatment however fruitless.

An authorities at RMI claimed that they treated SSP clients according to agreement. “No infraction has been dedicated,” he added.

Health and wellness officials said that individuals not aware of the cost-free treatment program were made to pay for exclusive therapy due to the fact that the expense of therapy under SSP was lesser than the exclusive one.

“Most of the health centers don’t notify the people regarding SSP and try to confess the clients as private and also obtain cash money right away. Under SSP, the exclusive medical facilities get less cash,” they stated, including that the quantity was paid to healthcare facilities at the end of monthly.

In 2015, the wellness department terminated contract with some personal hospitals consisting of premier private health centers in Hayatabad for charging cash money from the SSP patients but those health centers were once more empanelled after they returned the cash to the clients.

Mahmood Jan stated that they weren’t notified about the treatment on the information workdesk as well as his demand to move the patient free of cost treatment under SSP was turned down. “They informed us when a client was confessed as private, she or he could not make use of cost-free solutions even if they familiarized that cost-free treatment was offered under SSP,” he added.

Dr Riaz stated that it was a recurring procedure to deal with the complaints because federal government alloted Rs20 billion completely free services of all individuals regardless of their economic condition. “We have actually 523 empanelled healthcare facilities in the country and also 163 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A process of picking brand-new health centers has been started as well as the number of health facilities would reach 200 early following year,” he included.

He stated that the program covered 7.46 million family members in the district with each qualified to Rs1 million completely free therapy. He said that they would start totally free liver transplant very early following year for which agreements will be authorized with four hospitals in Islamabad and also Lahore.

“Currently, we have invested Rs16 billion on cost-free treatment of 616,000 clients. The program launched in 2014 in four areas, covering three per cent populace, was included 51 per cent as well as 69 percent individuals prior to its extension to the entire populace of the district in November 2020,” claimed Dr Riaz.