KARACHI: The Sindh Health Department has started forming a new Health Management Cadre that will aim to recruit more healthcare professionals with post graduate qualifications, and sought details from all hospital administrations in the province.
The report has been sought from medical superintendents (MS), divisional directors, district health officers and civil surgeons working under their supervision who have obtained higher education besides MBBS.
The department has also sought certificates from all the general and special cadre doctors who, besides MBBS, have earned higher education degrees. These qualifications can range from Masters in Public Health (MPH) to Masters in Science (M.Sc) of different specialties such as Tropical Disease and Medication. In light of the objectives discussed, new doctors in grades 18, 19 and 20 will also be recruited into the Health Management Cadre.
According to the Sindh Government cabinet meeting, the highly educated general and special cadre doctors in the department will be inducted into the health management cadre. Existing setup doctors will be allowed to complete management courses to hold new administrative positions.
The Sindh High Court had previously directed Dr Kazim Hussain Jatoi, the Secretary of Health in Sindh, to adopt the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-style recruitment rules and form a separate cadre of MPH qualified doctors for administrative posts. The cabinet approved it on October 29.
The formation of this new Health Management Cadre in Sindh had already been initiated during the tenure of Dr Saghir Ahmed, the former Minister of Health in Sindh, but unfortunately, it was not implemented. The former Director-General's (DG) wrote various letters to bring the matter in front of the secretaries, but the project was never carried out to fruition.
The development has recently been resumed, which will enable the deployment of qualified officers with higher degrees in Sindh's hospitals, health centres, various projects and offices.