LAHORE: The principal of Postgraduate Medical Institute (PGMI) has withdrawn powers from administrative and teaching doctors to prescribe free CT Scan and MRI tests, causing a great deal of inconvenience to deserving patients, particularly those getting treatment in indoor departments of the Lahore General Hospital.

In an administrative order issued on Tuesday, PGMI Principal Prof Anjum Habib Vohra strictly barred the officials concerned from exercising powers that had been decentralised in order to facilitate patients of the teaching hospital.

The health department had vested powers in the administrative doctors of all teaching and district headquarters hospitals, including medical superintendents (MSs) and additional medical superintendents (AMSs), under the rules and regulations to facilitate patients.

At the Lahore General Hospital (LGH), the powers to recommend to patients all kinds of tests for free, including MRI and CT Scan, had been given to the MS, four AMSs of different shifts, personal staff officers of the principal, Associate Professor of radiology department Dr Abdul Sami Qazi, Chief Consultant Radiologist Dr Tanveer Hasan Zubairi and Consultant Neuro-radiologist Dr Umair Rashid.

Prof Vohra, however, declared that no MRI and CT Scan would be allowed for free unless signed by him.

An official close to the information told Dawn that tests due on Tuesday of dozens of indoor patients could not be done for free in the wake of the new order. He said the situation might further aggravate as the administrative doctors among others were the only ones who remained on duty 24 hours. Similarly, the MS and abovementioned teaching cadre doctors could also be approached easily in the morning shifts.

On the other hand, he said Prof Vohra, who is heading two medical institutions -- PGMI and Ameeruddin Medical College -- was hardly available at the hospital. His schedule is very busy as he spends two days (Friday and Saturday) at the PGMI/Ameeruddin Medical College and two days (Monday and Friday) in operation theatres to perform surgeries.

The official said on Tuesday and Wednesday Prof Vohra attended official meetings. Consequently, patients would have to suffer to avail free facility of these two tests, which otherwise were highly costly in the private sector.

He said out of the total 1,000 beds at LGH, 900 were allocated for indoor patients who used to get free tests from the available administrative doctors. It would be difficult for them to trace the principal to avail the facility.

When contacted, Prof Vohra said the powers had been withdrawn on the complaints of misuse of authority by admin and teaching doctors. He said many of them were authorising free tests unnecessarily. About his availability, Dr Vohra said he visited the PGMI for two days but patients could contact him through his personal staff officer. He said he would allow the officer to authorise free tests and he would sign the request the next day.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2015

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