Abstract

The 18th constitutional amendment in April 2010, involves the transfer of political, administrative and financial powers to the lower tiers of the government. As per Pakistan constitution, the functions devolved to provincial governments include agriculture, transport, health services planning and development and welfare, among others. Current study assesses the impact of devolution on service delivery in provision of health care facilities in public hospitals of Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab. The objective of this study is to find out whether devolution has bought any positive change in staffing, financial allocation, and allied facilities in the remote areas of Punjab province. To obtain four research objectives, a descriptive research design was adopted in this study while primary data was collected from DHQ, THQ, RHCs, and finally BHUs. The sample contains of 356 participants from the given facilities. The primary data was collected using questionnaire while published data on health facilities is used from secondary sources. Descriptive statistics are used for quantitative data and, detailed narrative was used for the qualitative type of questionnaire. This study found that post devolution the provision and use of ICT has enhanced the delivery of services. The respondents said that the source of financing in many cases is national government, but delay in funds transfer impede the process of services delivery. This study found that in hospitals there is lack of staffing, due to which the health care services delivery is still affected. This study also found that plans and vision of the Ministries of Health for the better future has been clearly communicated with substantial figures. Furthermore, provision of health care services delivery has become easier due to devolution in term of affordability, accessibility availability and acceptability.