PESHAWAR: Irregularities in appointments being probed
By Our Correspondent
PESHAWAR, April 10: The NWFP health department has initiated an inquiryinto alleged irregularities in the appointment of senior doctors at the Khyber Teaching Hospital, sources have revealed.
Sources said the posts of senior registrars and assistant professors at the hospital were advertised in December. The interviews scheduled on Dec 12 were deferred till Jan 1 for some technical reasons, they said.
The posts of senior registrars in the paediatric surgery and pulmonology departments and an assistant professor each in the ENT and general surgery departments were advertised.
The interviews were held in January and the appointment of a senior registrar in paediatric surgery was notified in the same month.
However, the selection drew criticism from the institutional management committee, which argued that the chief executive was not authorized to hold interviews and issue appointment orders.
"All the appointments are supposed to be approved by the committee and the orders, according to the rules, should be issued by the medical superintendent," said sources in the health secretariat.
They alleged that an office superintendent allegedly involved in irregularities and transferred by the health secretary had misguided the chief executive.
They said a doctor who had secured a gold medal during his education, passed the FCPS exam in 2000 and had been working as the acting senior registrar was not selected.
The selected doctor had passed his FCPS in 2003 and he was given fivemarks for being an additional registrar.
The aggrieved doctor reportedly complained to the health secretary, who issued an order holding the interviews in abeyance, sources said.
The hospital administration has yet to notify the names of those selected for the other posts.
According to the sources, the inquiry committee led by the postgraduate medical institute dean was given the record of the interviews by the hospital administration after the transfer of the office superintendent.
A paediatric surgeon has appealed to the chief executive to review the appointment of the senior registrars, sources said.
They said seven candidates for the assistant professors' posts and five for the senior registrars' posts had been given five marks each fortheir qualifications, whereas others with higher qualifications had been denied the marks.
A doctor alleged that authorities of the hospitals that had been granted autonomy were violating the selection criteria of doctors. He said the posts should be advertised and filled through the public service commission.
The chief of the inquiry committee said it had finalized its recommendations, which would be forwarded to the health secretary next week.
