Unrest among officials after PM’s visit to HFH, DHQ Hospital

Rawalpindi : The transfers of medical superintendent and a deputy medical superintendent of Holy Family Hospital on Tuesday after the prime minister’s surprise visits to HFH and District Headquarters Hospital on Monday night and expected visit of a committee from provincial health department due on Wednesday has caused unrest among doctors particularly those serving in administrative cadre.

MS at HFH Dr. Shahzad Ahmed and DMS Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan were transferred on Tuesday on administrative grounds with immediate effect while Medical Superintendent of Rawalpindi Institute of Urology & Transplant Dr. Nasir Mehmood has been given additional charge of the seat of MS at HFH.

During the visit to the HFH, the PM expressed dissatisfaction over lack of facilities for patients particularly on the fact that two to three women were sharing a single bed in gynaecology ward of the hospital.

Two officers, the MS and DMS were transferred on administrative grounds through a notification issued by Secretary Punjab Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department on Tuesday though according to senior officials at the allied hospitals, the MS and DMS should not be held responsible for overcrowding at the hospital.

A senior level committee from Punjab health department was due on Wednesday that would visit Rawalpindi Medical University and hold a meeting with Vice Chancellor of RMU Professor Dr. Muhammad Umar to have details about shortcomings and lack of facilities at the three allied hospitals in town. The committee did not reach the RMU till filing of this report.

On it, a senior official serving at one the allied hospitals expressed to ‘The News’ that the health ministry should ask the medical superintendents of the hospitals to update the ministry about requirements at the three teaching hospitals. Everyone knows that the teaching hospitals lack space for accommodating patients properly and it has been well in the knowledge of senior officials at the ministry, said the top official pleading anonymity.

In case a patient is refused admission because of shortage of space and he or she dies, the hospital staff has to face FIR and if the patient is accommodated and kept on a shred bed, the staff has to face transfer, is it justified, said the official.

He said the allied hospitals have time and again sent demands to the Punjab health department not only for extensions to get space but also for other requirements and it is responsibility of the government to provide additional space, medicines, equipment and sufficient staff to cater to the needs of patients.

It is important to mention here that not only gynaecology departments but also the paediatrics departments at the allied hospitals have to accommodate more than one patients on a single bed and it has become a common practice due to shortage of space.