KARACHI, Nov 1: The Sindh health department witnessed one of the most wide-ranging reshuffles in its history on Monday, with almost all its senior positions changing hands.

The changeover is aimed at improving the performance of the department, claimed Prof Noshad A. Shaikh, the health secretary. "Honest and hardworking people have been posted to important positions, replacing those whose performance was not too great," he remarked.

Talking to Dawn, Prof Shaikh said in the period since his own appointment as secretary he had been trying to post all the officials who were waiting for assignments. "Today I was able to achieve this, albeit after encountering some problems." He did not elaborate.

In all 28 important positions feature in the reshuffle. These posts not only pertain to established administrative wings of the department but also to projects which are being run with foreign financial assistance.

The healthcare centres of Karachi which have been touched by the changeover are: Civil Hospital Karachi, Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad, Sindh Government Qatar Hospital and Lyari General Hospital. All these hospitals will have new medical superintendents (MSs).

The other hospitals of the province which will have new heads include: CDF Hospital, Hyderabad; Sindh Government Shah Bhittai Hospital, Hyderabad; Peoples Medical College Hospital, Nawabshah; and, Services Hospital, Hyderabad.

The position of additional health secretary (administration) has gone to Riaz Memon who will be replacing Iqbal Dewan. The post of additional health secretary (development) has gone to Manzoor Memon.

According to a notification of the Services, General Administration and Coordination Department (SGA&CD), Dr Hadi Bux Jatoi will now be the department's director-general, in BPS-20. He will retain his position as the medical superintendent of Liaquat University Hospital, Hyderabad, until further orders. Dr Jatoi will be replacing Dr Hussain Bux Memon, who has been asked to report back to the department.

The notification said Dr Saeed Qureshi, a professor of surgery, would take over the position of medical superintendent of the Civil Hospital Karachi from Dr (Capt) Mirza Raza Ali, who had been relieved of his additional charge as MS there.

Dr Ali Nawaz Sheikh, waiting for a posting, has been posted as the project director of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) Sindh, replacing Dr Naheed Jamali who has been transferred to the post of programme manager of the foreign-funded World Food Programme.

Dr Sharaf Ali Shah, who has been the chief of Sindh Aids Control Programme for the last many years, has been transferred. Dr Shah, viewed as a competent officer, has been replaced by Dr Srichand Ochani, according to the SGA&CD notification.

The most surprising transfer in the reshuffle is that of Dr Iqbal A. Daudpota, who had been working as an additional secretary for the last several years. He has been transferred to the Lyari General Hospital as a senior blood transfusion officer, in BPS-20. He is supposed to work under an officer who is junior to him.

The names of the remaining officials, who have been transferred, and their new positions are: Dr Sharifuddin Baloch, MS of CDF Hospital, Hyderabad; Dr Ahmed Bux Bhutto, EDO Larkana; Dr Abdul Khalique Mangnejo, chief CMO at PMCH Nawabshah; Dr Faqeer M. Baloch, MS of Sindh Government Shah Bhittai Hospital, Hyderabad; Dr Allah Rakhio Bhatti, police surgeon of Nawabshah; Dr Mehfooz A. Qureshi, MS of PMCH Nawabshah; Dr Imtiaz A. Mughal, civil surgeon at the Civil Hospital Sukkur; Dr Sabir Hussain Shah, MS of Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad; Dr Abdul Razzak Shaikh, chief CMO at Civil Hospital Karachi; Dr Ghulam Haider Arain, MS of Sindh Government Qatar Hospital, Karachi; Dr Abdul Wahab Wadho, senior demonstrator at CMC Larkana; Dr Jalil Qadir, assistant chemical examiner at Chemico-bacteriological Lab, Karachi; Dr Muzaffar H. Abbasi, civil surgeon/MS at Services Hospital Hyderabad; Dr Abdul Rahim Memon, chief CMO at Liaquat University Hospital, Hyderabad; Dr Ali Nawaz Khoso, EDO Nawabshah; Dr Akbar Haider Soomro, MS of Lyari General Hospital, Karachi; Dr Dhani Bux Thebo, EDO Dadu; Dr Moula Bux Jamali, district officer (medical and public health); and, Dr Abrar A. Shaikh, principal and project director of the Sardar Ghulam M. Khan Mahar Medical College, Sukkur.

Dr Khalid Shaikh has been made the EDO for Sukkur for which a separate notification has been issued. This notification includes the names of Riaz Memon and Manzoor Memon.

Meanwhile, the chief minister raised several objections to the reshuffle before acceding to the requests made by his adviser for health, Faisal Malik, and the health secretary, Prof Shaikh, a well-placed source told this reporter. The chief minister thought the move was a misconceived one because it amounted almost to the launching of a new health system.

Another source said the CM agreed to the changeover after several meetings with Mr Malik and Prof Shaikh.