Maimana hospital employees at loggerheads with services provider

MAIMANA (Pajhwok): Over 200 employees of the provincial hospital in Maimana city, the capital of northern Faryab province, have written a letter to the governor’s house complaining about a 20 percent cut in their salaries by Care of Afghan Families (CAF) organization.

The staff also complained they had not received their salaries for the past two months.

The plaintiffs added CAF, an independent humanitarian organization, is implementing basic package of health services (BPHS) in the Maimana hospital.

Pajhwok Afghan News received a copy of the letter signed by 201 personnel of Maimana hospital. They complained in the letter that their salaries have been reduced by 20 percent while there is no such thing in other provinces where health personnel are paid in full.

Doctor Ghulam Sakhi Halim, general surgeon of the hospital, said that CAF organization took responsibility of the hospital two months ago and had since fired 21 personnel and had not paid salaries to the remaining staff.

Halim said he had discussed the issue with Mohammad Asif, a senior provincial official of CAF, but no desirable outcome was received from the meeting.

Halim said: “The hospital is in a dire situation, medicines and necessary equipment are not available. Food and logistics are in short supply, the personnel were hungry for some days but another welfare organization donated 150 pieces of bread and accidently the provincial public health director was also present at the night of breads donation and he witnessed the situation himself”.

He said personnel of the hospital promised to work for free for the sake of the people and the country, but they would not accept the conditions imposed by CAF.

Doctor Ezatullah Hadaf, another specialist doctor at the hospital, said the number of patients was very high and available facilities were inadequate.

The Maimana Hospital has been upgraded to a 300-bed hospital, but has not been provided with the required facilities.

Patients are also complaining about lack of medicines and other facilities in the hospital.

Gul Mohammad, a resident of Khwaja Musa district, said his three nephews have been hospitalized since last 20 days and he has to 500 afs daily for their medicines, something he could not afford, but has no choice.

Gull Mohammad said: “We came hoping it is a government hospital, there will be more facilities and free treatment, but there is nothing except the advice of doctors. The doctors advised us that all the three children (nephews) must stay for two months in the hospital, I decided, if my brother (children’s father) agrees, to sell one of the three children and save the other two”.

Naqibullah, a resident of Khwaja Sabz Posh district and a patient who underwent a surgery in the hospital, was happy about his treatment by the doctors, but said that he paid 3,000 afs for medicines from the market.

He said if he had money he would not have come to the government hospital and have visited a private hospital.

Doctor Zahir Shah Jihad Mal, provincial Public Health Department head, said, the CAF organization was taking arbitrary actions as it fired 21 personnel of the hospital without consulting them.

“We have shared the issue with officials of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and called the representatives of CAF and expressed our disagreement about the action.”

Jihad Mal alleged: “The aim of this organization is to misappropriate the budget, not to provide health services.”

Jihad Mal said the complaints of the hospital personnel and patients about insufficient doctors, medicines and logistical issues were genuine.

He said the hospital should be provided facilities of a 300-bed hospital in order to enable it to cater to the needs of the population.

He also acknowledged that patients purchase medicine from the city drugstores, but added this issue would be addressed soon because the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) had pledged provision of medicines for hospitals and other health centers.

The Public Health Department head urged the Public Health Ministry to upgrade the hospital in Maimana city.

Pajhwok Afghan News also tried to seek comments of the CAF office about the complaints of the employees and patients of Maimana hospital, but Doctor Mohammad Asif, the provincial CAF official, said that the Ministry of Public Health had prevented them by sending a letter from talking to the media.

aw/ma