LAHORE: The process of hiring of faculty and other staff at the Shaikh Zayed Hospital is in limbo despite urgency to have many seats filled.

More than 11,000 people including 400 doctors had already applied for 540 positions in 40 categories which had been advertised by the SZH admin to avoid “emerging crisis” at the institute. The facility until recent times had been considered the state-of-the-art teaching hospital under the administrative control of the federal government. Fifty of the advertised posts are of medical officers and 600 people have applied for these one month ago.

The appointments against the positions have been delayed since some employees of the institute have gone into litigation on the plea that the authorities should first address the promotion matters of the staff including doctors.

The hospital is in dire need of new equipment, infrastructure and staff including teachers, junior doctors and paramedics. It is particularly facing acute dearth of the general duty medical officers in various disciplines such as anesthesia, pulmonology and dermatology.

The shortage of employees particularly doctors has brought the healthcare services at this 730-bed teaching hospital almost to a standstill which is evident from the fact that recently the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council had stopped new medical admissions to the college due to acute dearth of the faculty.

The patients are suffering as most of them have to return without treatment. Sadly, the anesthesia department of the facility is being run by non-teaching staff. This unit is said to be the backbone of any hospital as no surgery can be performed in the absence of anesthesiologist. The head of this department, Prof Dr Nauman Ahmad, had proceeded abroad on ex Pakistan leave and in his absence a non-teaching cadre medical officer, Dr Shaukat Shah, is looking after the affairs. The department has no associate and assistant professor.

Twenty-seven students enrolled for postgraduate training at this department are uncertain about their future due to absence of supervisors. A post of professor of anesthesia is vacant for the last many years.

The gynaecology department which is providing 24-hour emergency care is also working without professor and associate professor. Assistant Professor Dr Ikram and Senior Registrar Dr Shafqat are handling the institute, where 46 PG trainees are enrolled.

Equally difficult situation prevails at the pulmonology department which is largely operating without senior medics as only Assistant Professor Dr Talha Mahmood and Senior Registrar Dr Saqib are looking after its affairs.

A majority the new staff was to be hired to make the second block of the SZH functional where services are being expanded to accommodate those patients who are either denied admissions or referred to the other hospitals due to missing facilities. The building of the 230-bed new block will have many indoor departments besides 50 private rooms and eight furnished operating theatres.

Shaikh Zayed Hospital Administrator Dr Mohammad Akbar said the management was quite serious to address the issue of missing facilities and shortage of doctors but it couldn’t move ahead till the outcome of the litigation. He said some employees of the institute had challenged the recruitment process in court and the appointment process would be completed soon after a verdict.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2015

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