CHITRAL: Medical superintendent of the Chitral District Headquarters Hospital Dr Akbar Shah is understood to be doing a part-time job in a private hospital against the rules.

A doctor at the DHQ hospital told Dawn on condition of anonymity that the government had banned private practice for a hospital MS as he or she was required to look after the hospital round the clock by ensuring availability on the premises.

A staff member of a private hospital adjacent to the DHQ hospital claimed that Dr Shah performed surgeries in the afternoon at the privately-owned facility.

He said the MS, who was posted to the DHQ hospital two months ago, had put up a signboard showing him as a surgical specialist to catch the attention of patients.

The doctor claimed that Dr Shah’s posting as the MS was questionable as he’d opted to serve in the Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar under the Medical Teaching Institutions Act, 2015, so he was no more a civil servant to hold the MS post.

He said the management cadre doctors had expressed reservations about the posting and demanded Dr Shah’s immediate repatriation.

When contacted, MS Dr Shah insisted that most doctors holding administrative posts in the hospitals in other districts did private practice, so he, too, was doing so. He said he was a qualified surgeon and if he didn’t practice and kept himself busy with the hospital management only, then he would lose his surgical skills.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2019