Embezzlement: Former employee exposes financial irregularities at Social Security Hospital

Appeals to CJ to take appropriate action against hospital’s MS .

RAWALPINDI:

A former Additional Medical Superintendent (AMS) of Social Security Hospital Islamabad (SSHI) has alleged that he has been victimised by the hospital administration after exposing financial irregularities at the hospital.

Addressing a press conference here at the Rawalpindi Press Club on Monday, the former AMS, Dr Muhammad Saeed, claimed that he had been dismissed for pointing out misconduct by SSHI Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Izhar Ahmed to the Punjab chief minister and chief secretary, along with several other financial irregularities. He said he had requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take action against the hospital administration.

He informed that an inquiry against the MS is pending with the anti-corruption department, and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has also registered a case against the SSHI boss.

Saeed, however, was dismissed from the post of AMS on April 6 on charges of issuing appointment letters to some candidates without the approval of the MS.

In his defence, he claimed that the candidates had been selected for low grade posts at the hospital; however, the MS wanted to appoint some other people at the posts on the ‘recommendation’ of a Punjab minister. Saeed’s “second mistake” was to issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to a doctor to take a leave for China, after he had already obtained ex-Pakistan leave from the MS, he claimed.

Saeed said he was charged with misconduct and misuse of authority and dismissed from service after an inquiry was conducted by officials from the Lahore office.

He claimed that the hospital’s MS registered a fake case against him with the help of some other doctors, and the Abbottabad police arrested him for investigations. “I returned to Rawalpindi after receiving bail from the court,” he said.

Giving details of the financial irregularities at the hospital, Saeed said the MS had allowed a doctor to go to the US in 2009. However, the doctor returned after a month and drew his full salary, claiming that he had been present in the hospital and had not taken any leave.

He further alleged that the Islamabad Medical and Dental College was affiliated with SSHI in 2009, and under the terms of contract, the college provided medical equipment worth Rs140 million to the hospital. “But the equipment disappeared from the hospital after a short while,” he said.

Under the contract, the college also provided an extra residence to a physiotherapist at the hospital. The facility was instead given to one of the MS’s relatives, Saeed alleged. He also claimed that the MS allowed a junior doctor to use his official residence, while he himself rented a house on official expenditure, causing more losses to the hospital.

He appealed to the higher authorities to provide him with security and take stern action against corruption at the hospital.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2011.