The hospital’s board of directors forms two commissions of inquiry, tasked with submitting reports within three days
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi. Photo: File
Orders issued by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi regarding disciplinary action against senior officials of Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital have reportedly not been implemented. Instead, the hospital’s Board of Governors formed two separate commissions of inquiry to look into the matter.
According to official sources, the Board of Governors (BoG) has formed the committees to investigate the allegations against the hospital director and the head of the pediatric emergency department. Both committees have been directed to submit their reports within three days, after which a decision on further action against those responsible will be taken.
The development followed a night visit by the chief minister to the pediatric emergency room at LRH on the night of December 15-16, prompted by a video circulating on social media showing a complaint about denial of medical care to a newborn. During the visit, patients and their attendants reportedly made numerous complaints regarding poor facilities, poor management and staff behavior.
The chief minister also inspected other departments of the hospital and interacted with patients and their families. Expressing deep displeasure over lack of cleanliness, disorder, substandard patient care, staff attitude and violations of standard operating procedures (SOPs), he ordered the dismissal of the hospital director and suspension of the head of pediatric emergency.
Subsequently, an official letter conveying these orders was sent to the BoG. The letter expressed serious concerns over the situation at LRH, which is the largest tertiary care hospital in the province and receives an annual government subsidy of around Rs 8 billion. He stressed that the hospital has a crucial responsibility to provide quality health care, especially to emergency cases and newborns.
The letter also describes poor healthcare standards and weak administrative performance as a serious embarrassment not only to the institution but also to the provincial government, and it seeks a compliance report on the implementation of the chief minister’s orders.
However, instead of immediately implementing the guidelines, the BoG decided to open an investigation. Sources said a two-member committee has been constituted to probe the matter involving the hospital director, comprising the director of finance as chairman and the director of human resources as member.
A separate three-member committee was formed to investigate the pediatric emergency department, with head of the department of medicine, Dr Atta, as chairman, along with chairman of the department of gynecology and obstetrics, Dr Shahzadi Salma, and assistant professor of radiology, Dr Imran Khan, as members. The committee investigating the pediatric emergency department was tasked with identifying gaps in patient admissions, procedures, workload management and treatment delivery, and submitting recommendations in its report.
Insiders say the dismissal of the hospital director was stopped by the BoG chairman, and efforts are reportedly underway to absolve the director by arguing that he was not directly involved in the situation at the pediatric emergency room. Sources warn that the discrepancy between the chief minister’s orders and the BoG’s decision could trigger fresh controversy.
