Recruitment and procurement of equipment in MMC banned

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Qasim Ali Shah has banned new recruitment and procurement of equipment in the Mardan Medical Complex (MMC).The ban has been placed at a time when the Board of Governors (BoG) has already advertised some positions lying vacant for quite a long time, affecting routine matters of the institution as well as patient care.

“I am directed to refer to the subject noted above and to state that the minister for health has been pleased to impose a ban on all kinds of recruitment and purchase of equipment’s except [for] procurement of emergency medicines necessary for the immediate and urgent case of patients. All ongoing recruitment processes must be immediately halted. Any exception requires prior written approval from the Minister Health,” it is stated in a notification, issued by the provincial Health Department.

When reached, the health minister told The News that he had stopped the hospital BoG from the hiring process as well as the procurement of equipment. “Actually, the BoG was going too fast and I wanted to stop it from being so. Also, the board advertised so many positions and they have to consult us as the government doesn’t have funds to afford it,” said the health minister.

Asked all the positions advertised by the board had been lying vacant for a few years and the selection process was stopped during the caretaker government, Syed Qasim Ali Shah said he would give permission to the board if the board members convinced him that the positions they advertised were in fact needed for the hospital.

Meanwhile, the BoG has written a letter to the health minister and explained why they had advertised the positions.“It is submitted that the majority of the positions at the MTI Mardan [MMC] that have recently appeared in the press were already advertised (i.e., on 15.09.2022, 28.09.2022, and 16.02.2024), as a result of the interim government ban on recruitment, MTI Mardan has been facing a severe shortage of staff in critical areas for the past two years, including nurses, demonstrators, and faculty members for medical and dental colleges, trainee registrars, junior registrars, technicians, and a few IT positions,” the BoG explained in the letter.

After lifting of the ban on recruitment by the present government, the BoG advertised all the technical positions, which were either previously advertised or lying vacant.“The only positions that have been advertised afresh are those of top management of MMC i.e. Hospital Director, Nursing Director which became vacant on the expiry of the incumbents’ contracts on 17th July, 2024; Medical Director which have been vacant for a few years, some vacant technical positions & HR Director which did not exist & has been created by the present board,” the BoG stated.

“It is obvious from the advertisement that no Class-IV or other lower cadre posts are neither created nor advertised. In summary; the majority of the posts advertised by MTI Mardan are in fact repeat advertisements. The only new advertisement is that of top management positions of Hospital Director, Medical Director, Nursing Director, HR Director, and some vacant technical posts which are vacant and need to be filled out urgently,” the BoG members maintained in the letter.

“In view of the above, it is requested that in the larger interest of the public, the ban on recruitment at MTI Mardan may be lifted in order to enable us to fill the deficiencies in the institution for optimal patient care,” the BoG stated.