The district administration of federal capital on Tuesday informed the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services Regulation and Coordination that there were no laws existed to regulate charges of hospitals in the federal capital.
The Senate standing committee chaired by Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak was informed that due to non-existence of any law, there was no mechanism to fix the charges on medical assistance being provided to patients at hospitals in the federal capital.
The Islamabad deputy Commissioner informed the committee that hospitals took their own decisions and there was no system of check and balance on these hospitals functioning in the federal capital.
Officials from Ministry of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination said that the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division was responsible to present a bill to have check on healthcare services and charges at hospitals.
Officials from Pakistan Medical and Dental College (PMDC) said that Shifa International Hospital was not legally allowed to conduct entry test for medical colleges. They said that the council had advised doctors in their own interest that before going for admission in postgraduate medical and dental programmes they should ascertain that the postgraduate medical and dental courses programs or diplomas offered by the institution were recognised and were included in the schedule of PMDC.
They said that students, before getting admission in a postgraduate course should confirm that the institutions and courses were recognized as the council would not accept their degrees in unrecognized programme or unrecognized institution.
They said that PMDC has written letters to all the medical and dental degree awarding institution on the direction of the Council and advised doctors to refrain admission in such unrecognized programs.
They said that it was in the interest of the students to confirm whether colleges, which offer courses or where they were going to get admission, were recognized or not.
Senator Attique Sheikh was of view that Shifa International hospital was getting heavy charges from patients in the name of consultancy fees and other medical procedures.
