PESHAWAR – Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI) led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has banned staff at public health facilities from using smartphones and tablets.
Minister of Health Khyber Pakhtunkhwa issued a notification on Tuesday that states staff use their smartphone and electronic devices indiscriminately, resulting in compromise on services which leads to ethical, technical and practical issues at workplaces.
The notification further states that services are neglected most of the time during the use of smartphones. “This creates a lot of frustration in patients and their accompanying attendants against health care professionals and public sector facilities.”
Staff will be permitted to use phones which do not have internet during work hours for official use and emergency calls.
An independent monitoring unit will be set up by the health department for compliance and disciplinary action would be initiated against staff members who do not follow the policy.
