“As far as private practice is concerned, we are running our private clinics in the evening but it doesn’t mean that we are not giving time to our government duties,” he said. PHOTO: FILE
With this complaint, Inayatullah, a resident of Larkana, sent a letter to the Human Rights Cell of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which asked the Sindh health secretary and the vice-chancellor of Benazir Bhutto Medical University (BBMU), Larkana, to submit their comments. BBMU is the medical college affiliated with Larkana’s famous Chandka Medical College Hospital.
The complaint, written in Urdu, has not been shared with the media but, according to an official, Inayatullah complained that senior professors and the heads of various departments are not available in their wards.
He further complained that these consultants give preference to their private clinics over their government duties. These senior doctors ask patients to come to their clinics for an operation or treatment promising better services that the poor people from far-flung areas are unable to afford, he said.
In the letter, Inayatullah named several surgeons and senior doctors, and nearly all of them have filed their responses. “It is wrong to say that we prefer private practice over government duty,” BBMU urology department head Prof. Dr Malik Hussain Jalbani told The Express Tribune, adding that besides taking classes at the college, he is also supervising nine post-graduate students.
Dr Jalbani was not worried about the complained as he felt it held no truth. “I am giving proper time to my ward and to the out-patients department” he said, adding that hospital records will show how many operations he conducts. “No doubts there are black sheep in all spheres of life and so in our profession but unfortunately their names are not included in the complainant’s application.”
Even professor of medicines Dr Hakim Ali Abro denied the charges against him. The patients visiting the hospital are best judges and anybody who visits the hospital has seen my performance, he said. “We are giving more than our scheduled time to the medical college and the hospital because, as professors, we have to look after many things.”
The principal of Chandka college, whose name was also mentioned in the complaint, was satisfied with the performance of his professors. “As professors, their first priority is to conduct classes for the medical students,” Prof. Asadullah Mahar pointed out. “If anybody expects them to sit in their offices at 9am and start checking the patients, then it is not possible.” According to him, all the patients coming to the hospital expected to get checked by a professor, which is unrealistic, as their schedules are very hectic.
“As far as private practice is concerned, we are running our private clinics in the evening but it doesn’t mean that we are not giving time to our government duties,” he said. “We even use our private equipment in government hospitals to perform operations because we are often short.”
Nevertheless, Mahar assured that he has invited comments from all the professors, whose names appeared in the complaint, and will send their responses to the health secretary in a couple of days.
BBMU vice-chancellor Prof. Akbar Haider Soomro said he has yet to receive a copy of the complaint but confirmed that Chandka college received one. It is wrong to say that the professors are not giving time to their government duties as they are treating thousands of patients, he said. “It is, however, impossible for a professor to attend to each and every patient because of his hectic schedule,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 13th, 2013.
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