Social Security Hospital faces procurement probe

The Punjab Employees Social Security Institution (PESSI) has launched an inquiry against five hospital officials following the revelation of procurement irregularities at the Social Security Maternity and Newborn Child Hospital (SS-MNCH) in Kot Lakhpat.

PESSI Commissioner Muhammad Ali Pasha ordered the inquiry under the Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline and Accountability Act, 2006.

The directive follows a preliminary probe led by Medical Director Dr Atia Shahbaz, which uncovered evidence of manual purchases of items overpriced by more than 200 per cent.

The officials facing the inquiry are former medical superintendent Dr Shahwar Nadeem who headed the purchase committee, former deputy MS Dr Mohsin, ex-deputy director for finance and accounts Kamran Nawaz, Biomedical Engineer Hamza Khan and Operation Theatre Technician Muhammad Sufyan. They face charges of inefficiency, misconduct, and corruption.

It is suspected that the hospital staff had bypassed the mandatory Electronic Procurement Advertisement and Disposal System (E-PADS), processing purchases without proper authorisation or transparency. Specific instances showed discrepancies including flex printing cost of Rs90 per square foot despite.market rates of Rs50-60 and generator log books costing Rs3,000 each despite market rates of Rs800-1,000.

A sampling ice box was purchased for Rs12,000 when the price should have been Rs3,450. Book binding services were charged at Rs11,630 per transaction in contrast to the normal Rs300-500 range.