The health department has introduced the first patient referral system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with the technical support of the World Bank, to alleviate the workload in the tertiary care hospitals and to provide patients with timely treatment at all levels.
Now patients with even slight problems come to big hospitals and overcrowd it. Peshawar, Nowshera, Swabi and Haripur will be the initial areas where the new referral model introduced as part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Human Capital Investment Project (KP-HCIP) will be implemented.
The plan will help improve maternal and child healthcare by enhancing Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC) in basic health units (BHUs) and rural health centers (RHCs) and Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) at Category-D hospitals. The complex cases will then be sent to superior hospitals, such as tertiary care and teaching hospitals.
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More than 2,200 healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, and paramedics) have been trained to make the execution smooth, and referral procedures and standard documentation are being established. The system is completely interconnected with the Rescue 1122 to ensure safe transfer of patients and real-time coordination with the accepting hospitals.
The authorities noted that the referral system will lower infant mortality rates, offer prompt access to potentially life-saving interventions, and avoid the situation when a patient is deprived of facilities. The initiative is an important milestone towards enhancing healthcare access in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with the oversight of the Independent Monitoring Unit (IMU).
