ISLAMABAD: A show cause notice has been issued to the deputy executive director (ED) of the Polyclinic hospital, indicating that the matter of the interruption in oxygen supply in Polyclinic has entered its final stage.

The notice issued to Deputy Executive Director Dr Fayyaz Ahmad Sheikh means that he will face a major penalty.

However, Dr Sheikh claimed that there was a conspiracy against him, because an official junior to him held an inquiry against him. On March 6 at 4am an alarm sounded in the medical intensive care unit to indicate that the supply of oxygen to patients had been stopped.

Attendants in the hospital at the time attempted to have the supply restored but doctors and other employees were not present. Eventually, the night technician was found asleep in the X-ray room and the supply was restored.

Capital Administration and Development Division Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry took notice of the matter, and sought a report from the hospital’s management.

The night technician was suspended, but after the CADD secretary expressed dissatisfaction with the response, Dr Sheikh was also suspended.

A grade 18 official from the National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM) Dr Shaista Habibullah – who holds a current charge of grade 19 – was appointed to lead the inquiry that fixed responsibility on Dr Sheikh, after which a show cause notice was issued to him.

Polyclinic Executive Director Dr Amjad Mehmood confirmed that a show cause notice was issued to Dr Sheikh.

“The notice means he will face a major penalty, which can be the demotion of one grade, forced retirement or termination of service,” he said.

He added that he has started giving orders through the instant messaging app Whatsapp, which includes read receipts on sent messages. “It gives an indication that the receiver has read the message, and in case of any emergency they will not be able to say that they were busy and could not see the message,” he explained.

Dr Sheikh, however, said this was nothing but a conspiracy against him.

“Some elements wanted to remove me from their way which is why they created a conspiracy against me. It is strange that I am in BPS 19 but an officer of BPS 18 conducted the inquiry against me. I have just received the show cause notice, so I couldn’t make up my mind, but I am thinking about the possible ways to avoid any action,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2016