About time : Health department dismisses 39 ‘ghost’ doctors

Majority are lady doctors who took out-of-country leave and never returned

KARACHI: Health department dismissed 39 more doctors on Thursday. Majority of these doctors were on leave and had been living out of Pakistan for years.

The order was issued by health minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar during a meeting at his office. The 39 doctors had also failed to reply to the warning sent by the department.

A total of 130 absent doctors have been removed in last one year, while over 300 more doctors continue to be absent from their duties.

According to health department's officials, majority of the dismissed doctors are females who took ex-Pakistan leave and never returned to Pakistan. About 34 of the 39 doctors were women, said an official. The dismissed doctors were serving in the basic pay scale-17.

The department has also issued final warning letters to 27 other absentees, including 20 lady doctors.

Strict action

Dahar said that 435 ghost doctors have been identified since he took over the department as the minister. He further added that all the absent doctors have been warned to join the department or strict action would be taken against them.

"There is no space for any ghost employee in the health department," the minister said, adding that no pressure from any side would be tolerated.

On the other hand, due to shortage of medical officers across Sindh province, especially in rural health facilities, the health department will hire 1,000 doctors on contract basis.

Sindh Public Service Commission will also recruit about 2,800 more doctors, said an official.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st,  2016.