The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government places a high premium on regulating healthcare services. In 2015, the provincial government formed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Care Commission (KP HCC) to guarantee the safety and quality of care in the province’s healthcare system.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Care Commission Act of 2015 governs the KP HCC, which is an independent organization. In order to enhance quality, the Act plans to regulate the province’s public and private healthcare facilities.
The commission is tasked with protecting the province’s citizens’ right to high-quality healthcare by eliminating quackery and other malpractices and establishing guidelines for allopathic and alternative medicine practices, including but not limited to homeopathy, ayurveda, and tibb. Through the licensing and registration of healthcare facilities, KP HCC fulfills this role.
Under Section 12 of the KP HCC Act 2015
, the Directorate of Registration is in charge of registering and regulating Health Care Establishments (HCEs) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which includes both public and private sectors. Along with registration and regulation, the Directorate is also in charge of fighting against unlawful medical practices and quacks.
Reference manuals tailored to each type of healthcare facility specify the authorized prerequisites for licensing and registration with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Care Commission.
Health facilities are categorized by the Commission according to the type of services they offer to the general population. The following is the registration fee structure and HCE classification:
Registration with the Commission is online.
The owner of HCE shall apply through the online portal (https://registrationhcc.kp.gov.pk) starting with creating a user account, followed by email verification, submission of registration form with the required documents, and payment of the fee using the system-generated challan. Once the application is submitted, the Commission issues a registration certificate within 30 days, if the criteria are met.
Quackery is a non-bailable and cognizable offense under section 28(2) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Care Commission Act, 2015; under section 28(1), anyone found guilty of quackery .
who does not meet the requirements of this Act faces a maximum sentence of six months in prison, a maximum fine of one million rupees, or both. The Commission will receive cooperation from all government law enforcement agencies (section 27).
No healthcare facility can operate or function without a license from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Care Commission, as licensing is a mandated procedure. Implementing the Minimum Service Delivery Standards (MSDS) for the delivery of healthcare services is the main goal of the licensure. It establishes the guidelines that HCEs must follow and follow in order to function and deliver high-quality medical care.
If an unlicensed healthcare establishment is found to be providing healthcare services without having applied for the necessary license or without having a license, as the case may be, it will be subject to a fine of up to Rupees five hundred thousand (Rs. 500,000), subject to the categories and timelines for the initial licensing established by the Commission.
The Act of 2015 created the independent Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Care Commission (KP HCC). The Board of Commissioners oversees the KP HCC.
The Chief Executive Officer leads the Commission, and its five directorates—Clinical Governance, Licensing & Registration, Patients’ Rights & Complaints, Operations, and Finance—are responsible for its execution
. The KP HCC operates through five regional offices and its headquarters in the province capital. The senior team members are as follows:
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Care Commission Act, 2015, gives the Commission the authority to carry out tasks and use its authority as needed to protect patients and medical personnel and to raise the standard of both public and private healthcare services.
Regarding the following issues, the Commission may use the same authority granted to a Civil Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (V of 1908):
summoning someone, making sure they show up, and having them testify under oath; demanding that papers be produced; obtaining testimony through affidavits; and sending out a commission to examine witnesses.
The Commission will carry out its duties and wield its authority in accordance with the sad Act’s requirements.