LAHORE: The Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) has rejected allegations levelled by the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) against appointment of its chief operating officer and election of the convener of its technical advisory committee.

The commission condemned, what it called, defamatory language used by the PMA office bearers in their meeting against the PHC chief operating officer and other senior officials.

A spokesman for the PHC said on Monday the commission was working in accordance with the law as a neutral regulatory body. He said the election of the new convener of the technical advisory committee on June 12 was lawful and strictly in accordance with the laid down rules.

The spokesman said Prof Dr Abdul Majeed Chaudhry, a reputed surgeon and internationally renowned medial educationist, was elected convener by technical advisory committee members almost with a consensus as the other candidate fielded by the PMA was not seconded by any member.

“There was no controversy involved in his election and the attempt by certain quarters to make it controversial was indicative of a negative mindset,” the spokesman clarified, adding the election of Prof Majeed Chaudhry in no way jeopardised the independent status of the PHC.

Speaking about the appointment of Dr Muhammad Ajmal as chief operating officer, he said the matter was sub judice before the Lahore High Court and the PMA’s negative propaganda in this regard was unlawful and in contravention of the spirit of justice.

The spokesperson took exception to the language that, he alleged, was used in the PMA press conference regarding the commission and its senior management, saying the remarks were unprofessional and unethical and the commission reserved the right to take an appropriate legal action on them.

He said the agenda items for the meeting, including minimum service delivery standards (MSDS) for category II hospitals, were prepared after repeated consultations with panels of experts and were disseminated among all the technical advisory committee members, well in time before its meeting.

These standards and all other documents were discussed in depth for the whole day by all committee members, the spokesman said, adding all items were recommended by the committee for approval by the board of commissioners.

He also said the technical advisory committee was purely an advisory forum to give recommendations on technical matters referred to it by the board of commissioners of the Punjab Healthcare Commission.

The PHC spokesman concluded that the doors of the commission were open to all stakeholders for improvement in quality of healthcare in Punjab; and all healthcare establishments and service providers were under obligation to comply with the law and fulfill their obligations under PHC Act 2010.

Published in Dawn, June 24th , 2014