A day after resignations: KP govt allows members to continue work till approval of new KTH BoG

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to allow members of the Board of Governors (BoG) to continue their work till the approval of a new board for the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH).

It was a surprise to the majority of the doctors as well as government officials as all members of the BoG had resigned a day earlier. The government issued a notification after the chief minister accepted their resignations.

However, the Health Department on Tuesday issued another notification, saying “the competent authority while accepting resignations of the board of governors, is pleased to allow the existing board to continue its work till the new board or members are appointed or selected.”

According to officials of the Health Department, all members of the board were asked to resign after they were held responsible by an inquiry committee for the oxygen gas shortage in the hospital on December 6, 2020 that led to the loss of seven patients, including a child.

The BoG had initially investigated the incident and blamed senior officials, including the hospital director, for the mishap and ordered their sacking.

Health Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra had stated at the time that since the hospital was run by an independent board, therefore, the government cannot interfere in its affairs directly.

The government later formed another committee to investigate the role of the board members and find out as to what they had done during their tenure for increasing capacity of the oxygen gas supply in the hospital.

The board members had stated at the time that they would prefer to quit if the government found proof of their failure in the issue.

The role of some of the board members was particularly highlighted during the inquiry. It was noted that they preferred to take interest in day-to-day matters of the hospital but still held the officials responsible for the incident when the KTH was in trouble.

In the MTI system, the chairman of the board is stated to be “all in all” and considered the most powerful person. This is the reason most of the doctors and other health workers always take special care of the chairman.

The notification issued on Monday stated that the BoG members, including its chairman Dr Nadeem Khawar, Dr Nadeem Alam, Shah Jehan Shah, retired Major General Mohammad Salahuddin Qasim, and Prof Dr Zafar Durrani resigned from the the board. It stated that the chief minister had accepted their resignations.