Impostors on the job

Bizarre stories are quite possibly most frequent in occurrence in our country. In the latest, a man feigned to be a physician in Peshawar’s Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) for at least three months, with some officials maintaining that the man was working there for the past two years. In the frenzy surrounding how a fake doctor worked under the radar for so long, the patients and families who were treated by him, or who were at least given medical advice by him, must be justifiably enraged. The hospital administration supports the police in pursuing a criminal case, but fingers should be pointed at the hospital management and its security staff.

There are too many instances of people toying with the lives of those with lesser authority. The doctor-patient dynamic is sometimes no different; a doctor or even one impersonating a doctor continues to prescribe medications until the patient stops returning, rather than meticulously studying all possibilities in a medical case. Here, the hospital administration – and possibly staff members who abetted the impostor – failed to implement a foolproof system wherein only physicians should be allowed near patients, reflecting their nonchalant attitude when it comes to patient safety. This calls for a review of security measures in all hospitals. More strict policies are needed for patient security, as well as using secure facilities for drug storage to prevent theft and abuse.

The incident of assistants and helpers filling in for doctors when they are out of office at public and private hospitals is high and it is an accepted practice. However, there needs to be strict laws against allowing any such untrained staff to perform duties that are only in the realm of a physician. There is a difference between an observer and an actual physician, and that too, working in a specialty like pediatric cardiology. The HMC administration needs to face more scrutiny.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2017.

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