6 KTH employees suspended after video showed security guard examining patients

PESHAWAR: Embarrassed by the picture of a private security guard examining patients at the Accident and Emergency Department (A&ED), the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) administration on Wednesday suspended six employees of the hospital including deputy medical superintendent of the casualty department and initiated an inquiry.

Also, the KTH administration sacked an elderly security guard of a private security company deployed at the casualty department.

According to sources, the KTH administration was embarrassed after a video of the private security guard went viral. He was seen in the video examining patients at the Casualty Department during the night shift.

Some of the officials said the security guard was sitting in the nurses’ room in the Casualty Department when the nurses went to another room to see some patients brought there.

However, insiders in KTH told The News that as per routine the doctors and nurses quietly disappeared to find a place to get some sleep during the night, particularly when there were no patients.

“During this time, the security guard went to the nurses’ room and sat on their chair. In the meantime some patients arrived and the security guard was seen in the picture checking blood pressure of the patients,” said an official of KTH.

Pleading anonymity, he said some of the hospital employees took pictures of the security guard examining the patients and shared it on the social media.

The hospital administration first tried to play down the incident as it thought someone had staged a drama.

However, when the video went viral on the social media and the mainstream electronic media covered the incident, the KTH administration took action and charge-sheeted six staff members of the hospital.

Those who were suspended included Dr Inayat, deputy medical superintendent casualty, two service line managers and three charge nurses.

KTH media manager Farhad Khan told The News that the hospital administration had formed an inquiry committee to probe the incident.