Private lab agent posing as good Samaritan caught

Police arrest suspect, book him for defrauding people at PIMS

RAWALPINDI/ ISLAMABAD: Patients visiting the largest tertiary care hospital in the federal capital have complained of being looted by ‘outsiders’ allegedly in connivance with staff and doctors of the hospital who urge them to get tests done by private laboratories located outside the facility.

Waqar Naveed Khan, a resident of Jhelum, told the Karachi Company police in his complaint that his maternal cousin had fallen seriously ill. He brought him to the Pakistan Institutes of Medical Sciences (Pims) for treatment and he was admitted in Ward-VI on June 17.

After admitting his cousin, Waqar said that he stayed on with his cousin as his attendant. During this time a man who identified himself as James Masih was seen going around the wards every day guiding and helping patients and their families who had come from far-flung areas.

One day, he approached Waqar and asked him to provide blood samples of the patient so that their test can be conducted on cheaper rates from a laboratory which was located adjacent to the hospital.

Waqar, who thought Masih was a hospital employee and was trying to help him, agreed. The practice continued until Waqar’s cousin was discharged.

When Masih did not come one day, Waqar went himself to fetch the laboratory reports. There, he discovered that Masih was not a Pims employee. Rather, he was an agent for a private laboratory located adjacent to the hospital and used to loot simple people allegedly in collusion with doctors and staff of the hospital.

Waqar told the police that so far, the suspect had managed to obtain around Rs50,000 from him on the pretext of various tests.

The Jhelum resident learnt that Masih was getting the tests done from a private lab located adjacent to the hospital and that he was overcharging him for different tests which were readily available at Pims on cheaper rates.

When Masih returned the next day, Waqar confronted him. At this, the suspect attempted to flee but Waqar caught him and started shouting. As a result, other attendants also surrounded him.

Later, Waqar handed Masih over to the police who arrested him and booked him for fraud.

New security plan at HFH

The administration of the Holy Family Hospital (HFH) has imposed a new set of security rules at the facility limiting the number of attendants allowed with a patient to one.

The new rules have been imposed after a family scuffled with doctors the other day.

Adil Hussain told the Rawalpindi police that his relative, Saima, was admitted in the hospital in serious condition. On Tuesday, when they went to visit her along with other members of their family, their relative Azra requested the duty doctor, Dr Junaid, to take better care of Saima. At this, Dr Junaid allegedly misbehaved with Azra.

This prompted the family to intervene and soon the family and the doctor were embroiled in a scuffle.

Before matters could get out of hand, a lady deputy medical superintendent (DMS) arrived on the scene. In a bid to resolve the situation, she asked two members of the family to come inside a room to talk things out. Hussain and his cousin Majid had barely stepped into the room when they were shoved inside and the door was locked behind them.

Hussain claimed that they were then set upon by 30-35 staff members and beaten to the point that one of them lost consciousness. Hussain added that three policemen apparently tried to save them but they too were beaten and the shirt of policemen with a name-badge of Haroon saw his shirt torn.

Dr Junaid then snatched Majid’s cellphone which had recorded the incident.

Amid the commotion, Saima passed away.

The police subsequently registered a case, stating that Saima’s death will be probed during the subsequent inquiry.

Following the incident, HFH administration decided to review its security plan.

In a meeting chaired by HFH Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Nasir Mehmood, he condemned the incident and said that doctors’ need to improve their behaviour order to prevent such incidents from taking place in the future. Furthermore, he said that doctors need to realize their first priority is the patients.

Young Doctors’ Association (YDA) officials who attended the meeting said that they felt vulnerable owing to similar incidents which take place every day with patients’ and their families.

They held extra attendants responsible for the situation. Moreover, they said that doctors were unable to perform long shifts which can last up to 16-18 hours.

The hospital administration decided to impose a new security plan whereby only a single attendant will be allowed with a patient.

Moreover, a token system will be installed in the emergency and outpatient departments (OPD) of the hospital. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2019.