PESHAWAR: The Board of Governors of the Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar, has sacked acting hospital director Prof Inayatur Rehman two months after appointment.

Prof Rehman, a paediatric surgeon, was appointed the acting HD on Sept 6 after the board forced Dr Nek Dad Afridi into resigning from the position over the alleged illegal appointments and embezzlement of funds.

BoG member Dr Nadeem Alam told Dawn that Prof Rehman had resigned.

“We have yet to appoint the new HD. Consultations for it are in progress,” he said.

Sources, however, claimed that Prof Rehman was asked to resign on Saturday by a BoG’s member without assigning any reason.

They said Dr Zafar Afridi, a blood bank officer, was likely to be appointed the HD.

The PTI government in the province had enforced the Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act (MTIRA), 2015, under which some teaching hospitals, including the KTH, were placed under the control of the BoG.

The board is required to fill top positions, including those of dean, medical director, HD, nursing and finance director, through proper advertisement and subsequent interviews for a specified period.

The sources, however, said the KTH continued to remove top officers without following the laid-down procedure.

MD Prof Rohul Muqim was removed in Jan on ‘flimsy grounds’ as he was restored by the Peshawar High Court. He, however, stepped down over the board’s ‘undue interference’ in the hospital’s affairs. He is credited with launching institution-based practice, setting up pharmacy store and making clinical upgradations at the hospital.

The sources said Prof Muqim, a laparoscopic general surgeon, was known for improvement in KTH but he was removed due to an inquiry into the incorrect insertion of intravenous cannula to a patient.

Dr Shoaib, an orthopedic surgeon, was appointed in his place but he, too, was replaced by Prof Irshad Ahmad soon thereafter.

The sources claimed that the nursing director, who is primarily responsible for nursing care at the hospital, was spared as he was a former employee of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer HOSPITAL and Research Centre, Lahore.

Chairman of the KTH BoG Dr Faisal Sultan is the chief executive officer of the SKMCH & RC, Lahore.

Prof Rehman, who is the head of the paediatric department and chairman of the surgical specialties, had accepted the HD post at the request of the BoG.

They said the KTH board was struggling to find permanent MD and HD after the resignation of Prof Muqim and Dr Nek Dad Afridi.

A senior BoG member had resigned a fortnight ago.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2019