PIMS, Polyclinic doctors promotion on cards
Doctors at the two major hospitals of the federal capital are likely to hear good news of promotions, sources said on Friday.
Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination has sought working papers from the managements of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and Federal Government Polyclinic Hospital commonly known as Polyclinic, sources said.
Following the directions from the ministry, meetings of the respective Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) for considering the cases of the doctors of these tertiary healthcare facilities were expected shortly, they said.
The ministry has directed the heads of Polyclinic and Pims to immediately provide working papers regarding promotion of doctors from grade 17 to 18 and from grade 18 to 19, sources said adding that subsequently, meetings of the DPC will be held to deliberate upon the promotion of these doctors.
Sources said that a number of doctors from federal government hospitals were promoted in the departmental promotion committee meeting held during the first quarter of this year. However, several doctors were deprived of promotion.
During the PPP regime, 200 doctors were promoted on the recommendations of the Khurshid Shah Committee except those who became permanent on the orders of the then prime minister and those who came on deputation from the provinces.
Sources said that the doctors who did not get promotion had also made a formal request to the health secretary in this regard.
No major hospital built in decades
Work on the Islamabad General Hospital has yet to resume due to legal issues which derailed the construction of the third major public healthcare facility in the city.
State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan on Friday informed the Senate that no tertiary care hospital has been established in the federal capital for the last 25-30 years after Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims).
Responding to various supplementary questions during Question Hour, the minister said there was dire need of setting up another big hospital in public sector.
Many patients from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab also regularly visited public sector hospitals in the federal capital, he added.
Khan said establishment of Islamabad General Hospital at Tarlai was approved by Central Development Working Party in 2016 at total cost of Rs2.5 billion. However, Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) had approved grant assistance of Rs2 billion for this project, he added.
The state minister said that in financial year 2016-17, the then government allocated Rs100 million for this project. The minister said that such hospital was expected to be completed by June, 2019 where the construction work was started from the boundary wall by PWD in October 2016, but due to litigation by some local land mafia it was delayed for two years being sub judice in the court.
Presently the boundary wall was complete, the approach roads from the Lehtrar road and Park Road was also complete while gates are installed, all work was done through funds released by the government for the project, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2020.