Punjab govt suspends BBH’s medical superintendent

YDA says suspension tantamount to political interference in hospital’s affairs

RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government on Monday suspended the Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Tariq Masood Niazi for alleged negligence and misconduct.

According to a notification issued by the Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education (SHC&ME) secretary on Monday, the MS had been suspended under section 6 of the Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline and Accountability (PEDDA) Act of 2006, and directed to report to SHC&ME department.

Section 6 of the act states that an officer can be suspended for 90 days with an option to extend it by a further 90 days after the expiry of the initial suspension period if it is considered necessary or expedient by the competent authority. After expiry of the suspension period, the officer will be considered to have been reinstalled.

Meanwhile, his duties will be handled by PWMO Dr Samina Shaheen (a basic pay scale grade-20 officer) as an additional charge until the arrival of a regular incumbent.

The notification comes weeks after a call involving Dr Niazi and Punjab Law Minister Basharat Raja was leaked in which the law minister could be heard threatening Dr Niazi with dire consequences if he failed to transfer the daughter of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) incarcerated leader Hanif Abbasi’s daughter to the skin diseases department.

Meanwhile, members of the Young Doctors Association (YDA) have rejected Dr Niazi’s transfer, terming it as political interference in the operations of the hospital.

Insufficient ICU beds

Contrary to the claims of federal and provincial governments of resolving issues faced by the health sector, the 450-bed District Headquarters (DHQ) hospital of Rawalpindi is facing a scarcity of beds in its Intensive Care Unit ICU).

It has been disclosed that the ICU ward has a mere six beds while the ward also lacks cardiac monitors for patients.

According to standard operating procedures (SOPs) for hospitals, all kinds of medical facilities and equipment’s must be available in an ICU while there must be a minimum of 20 beds in the ward.

Reports of this shortage come as 13 beds were added to the gynaecology ward of the hospital after Prime Minister Imran Khan took notice of the shortage in the ward during his visit to the hospital last month.

Despite the addition of beds, there is still an insufficient number of beds in the ward.

DHQ Medical Superintendent Dr Khalid Randhawa confirmed that they were facing a shortage of beds and facilities in the ICU. However, he said that they had sent a proposal to the relevant authorities to increase the number of beds in ICU as well as other essential facilities.

Dr.Randhawa added that they were trying to further expand the gynaecology ward.

Dr Rashid visits HFH

Weeks after the prime minister’s visit, Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid paid a surprise visit to the Holy Family Hospital (HFH) on Monday.

During the visit, the provincial health minister reviewed the renovation work in the hospital’s old building and visited the emergency ward. She expressed satisfaction at the health facilities in the hospital and reported that ‘everything was well’.

She directed the hospital administration to improve health facilities at the facility and left after her short visit.

Apart from the emergency ward and the under-renovation sections, Dr Rashid did not visit any other part of the health facility nor did she inquire about the condition from patients.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2019.