NADI private practitioner Dr Ahmed Shariff has called on Government to closely examine public-private partnerships.
Speaking at the Dialogue Fiji National Budget Forum Nadi on Saturday Dr Shariff said the $120million allocation for Lautoka and Ba hospital is equivalent to roughly one-quarter of the Ministry of Health’s own allocation.
“Public-private partnerships can bring expertise, technology and efficiency,” he said.
“However, they can also create significant long-term financial obligations if contracts are poorly designed or inadequately monitored.”
He said a public-private partnership should transfer and manage risk. “It should not become an open-ended public liability with privately controlled information.
“For an allocation of this size, the public should be able to see the number of patients treated, the cost per service, waiting times, referral criteria, clinical outcomes, contract variations and the total long-term financial exposure to government.
“A privately managed hospital funded substantially by taxpayers must remain publicly accountable.”
Dr Shariff added that maintenance must also become a national priority.
“We cannot continue building new facilities while operating theatres, laboratories, imaging equipment and biomedical devices in existing hospitals remain out of service.
“Capital expenditure without adequate maintenance funding is not investment. It is delayed failure.
“Every major health project should therefore include protected funding for maintenance, staff training, consumables, software, spare parts and eventual equipment replacement.”
