Hospital heads to be hired as per merit, says ministry

As per earlier report, army officers were supposed to run Islamabad’s PIMS, FGPC

ISLAMABAD:

The national health services ministry on Sunday claimed that the heads of the major hospitals in Islamabad would be appointed in accordance with the rules and regulations and urged citizens not to pay heed to any rumours in this connection.

It was earlier reported that following a letter from the national health services ministry to the defence ministry, serving officers of the Pakistan Army Medical Corps would take charge as the executive directors of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) and Federal Government Polyclinic Hospital (FGPC) in Islamabad.

In a statement, the ministry’s spokesperson maintained that these recruitments would be carried out as per proper procedure and merit and this decision was made by the federal health minister while chairing a meeting on August 25, 2023.

The spokesperson said “necessary instructions” had been issued to start the process to fill up the vacancies of various cadres. He requested citizens not to pay attention to any “unverified news” or “speculations” circulating on social media.

The spokesperson said that no “misleading and false news” could stop them from their mission of introducing reforms in Pakistan.

He continued that it was the right of the government or health ministry to select the most suitable candidates to improve the delivery of services to the people.

However, the earlier report stated that in its letter, the ministry had expressed its lack of confidence in the officers working in its subordinate departments for the posts.

It read that the posts of the executive director in Pims and FGPC were vacant because of the lack of eligible officers from the existing ones for promotion to the slots.

“In order to ensure effective healthcare service delivery [to] the public at large in ICT [Islamabad Capital Territory], it has been desired to fill the posts on secondment basis from [the] Pakistan Army Medical Corps as an interim arrangement,” it added.

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“It is, therefore, requested to convey the availability/spareability of qualified and capable hospital managers of equivalent grade i.e. BS-21 from Pakistan Army Medical Corps for posting as ED Pims and FGPC (BS-21) on deputation basis for a period of three years and until further orders under standard terms and conditions,” it concluded.

Sources said there were experienced competent and expert officers working under the national health services ministry at both the state-run hospitals of Islamabad, but it was dissatisfied with their performance.

According to the earlier report, the national health services ministry spokesperson said they wanted to introduce reforms in the two hospitals and the letter had been written to the defence ministry so that it nominated the best officers from the Pakistan Army Medical Corps for them.

He added that under the Pakistan Army Medical Corps officers, the administrative affairs of the hospitals could be run in a better way and the problems faced by the patients addressed at the earliest.