After LRH, will senior doctors at other public hospitals go on long leave?

PESHAWAR: Questions are being asked whether more senior doctors would proceed on long leave or even resign following the recent decision by four professors of Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) to put in leave applications and stop working at the public hospital.

The senior doctors who have reportedly gone on long leave are Prof Dr Intikhab Alam, head of the department of medicine, Prof Dr Mumtaz Ali, head of the neurosurgery department, noted physician Prof Dr Amjad Taqweem Kakakhel and another physician Prof Dr Javed Iqbal Farooqi. All of them are well-known with a thriving private practice.

The reasons being cited for their decision to take long leave was their objection to some of the decisions made by the MTI LRH Board of Governors and the appointment of junior doctors on administrative positions. The most controversial decision of the Board of Governors, which is headed by the US-based Dr Nowsherwan Burki, was to appoint Dr Suleman Khan as medical director of LRH. Dr Suleman Khan, a rheumatologist, had joined the LRH after quitting his job abroad. His promotion had caused a surprise as he was far below in the seniority list.

The senior doctors were also upset over the Board of Directors move to write a letter asking them to opt for Institution-Based Practice (IBP) at the LRH or forego the right to be appointed on administrative posts.

There was no report yet that any senior doctor has gone on long leave at the Khyber Teaching Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex, the two other major public hospitals in Peshawar where the MTI was enforced. The Board of Governors at other PTI-run public hospitals in Abbottabad, Mardan, Dera Ismail Khan and other major cities too have taken tough decisions, but the resentment among doctors has been most intense at the LRH.

The PTI government has been claiming that its reforms in the healthcare sector had brought a change due to improvements at the public hospitals and other outlets.

However, the opposition parties, many doctors and certain analysts aren’t convinced that a change has occurred in the running of public hospitals.