ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Health Syed Mustafa Kamal has inaugurated the Care 1166 portal, describing the Health Complaint Management System as one of the most important initiatives in the history of the Ministry of Health.
The new digital system has been introduced under the theme of “one number, one record and one monitoring mechanism” to allow citizens to register health-related complaints directly through the 1166 helpline.
In the first phase, the service has been launched in Islamabad, where citizens will be able to lodge complaints regarding the Ministry of Health, its attached departments, government hospitals and dispensaries through a free call to 1166. The system will also provide information related to health facilities.
Speaking at the inauguration, Mustafa Kamal said citizens would no longer need to visit different government offices to get their complaints registered. He said a person facing illness or difficulty would now be able to convey his or her voice to the relevant authorities from home through a single helpline number.
According to the minister, public complaints will be automatically forwarded to the relevant officer or health department. The entire process, from action on a complaint to its resolution, will be monitored through a central mechanism. A record will be maintained of every complaint, the officer to whom it is assigned and the progress made on it.
A central dashboard has been established for the purpose. The health minister will be able to review complaints and progress on them from his office through the dashboard. The system will also help identify diseases and health issues emerging in different areas.
Mustafa Kamal said the objective of the system was not only to listen to public complaints but also to ensure their resolution. He said the system would bring forward the real situation of health issues across the country and would also show what practical steps were taken on each complaint.
He said every complainant would be issued a unique digital tracking number, enabling the citizen to check the status of the complaint later. A complainant would be able to access the record after two days, four days, a month or even a year to know what action had been taken.
The minister said complaints would appear in real time on the screens of the relevant responsible officers as soon as the call centre agent completed the call. He said the same complaint would also be available to the health minister and the monitoring team, making it clear which officer had been assigned the matter and what progress had been made.
He said heads of 39 relevant wings of the Ministry of Health would have real-time access to complaints through a mobile application and screens installed in offices. A special team has also been formed to monitor complaint resolution and the performance of relevant officers.
For government hospitals in Islamabad, a nominated responsible officer will be appointed in each hospital for complaint redressal. The new system will create a central and traceable record of hospital complaints and help the ministry directly monitor service delivery and public grievances in hospitals.
The minister said the call centre would operate round the clock in three shifts, as illness and difficulty were not limited to office hours. He told the call centre staff to treat the responsibility as public service and listen to callers with respect and patience.
Mustafa Kamal said the initiative was being started from Islamabad and would be expanded to the entire country in the next phase. He said the project was worth approximately Rs400 million and had been developed with the cooperation of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, IBX, the Ministry of Health team, the joint secretary administration, relevant authorities and UNICEF.
He said people living in remote areas, including poor citizens in places such as Thar, would be able to call 1166 to register complaints if they could not reach district health officers, health secretaries, ministers or chief ministers. Their complaints could then be forwarded to the relevant district and provincial authorities, who would be made answerable for redressal.
The minister termed the initiative a silent revolution, saying it would give citizens direct access to the government without protest or pressure. He said the ministry’s performance would now be assessed on the basis of available digital records and real data rather than claims.
He said the data generated through the system would also be important for health policy-making. If complaints or calls of a similar nature suddenly increased from a particular area, it could serve as an early indication of an outbreak or serious health issue, enabling the government to take timely action.
Mustafa Kamal said the system would change the way the Ministry of Health worked by bringing the day-to-day health difficulties and complaints of ordinary citizens under direct monitoring. He said the ministry would identify, monitor and resolve issues instead of ignoring or hiding them.
Referring to his earlier experience, the minister said a similar complaint management system had been introduced during his tenure as Karachi mayor from 2005 to 2010 for civic services such as water, sewerage, sanitation and garbage lifting. He said the same concept was now being implemented in the health sector through modern digital technology.
He said the Health Complaint Management System was an effort to give people a voice, make the government answerable and bring transparency to the health system. The minister added that no citizen in any part of Pakistan should be deprived of a health-related right only because there was no one to hear his or her voice.
