KARACHI: Senior health professionals representing the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on Monday highlighted “the grave violations of the Sindh Healthcare Commission (SHcC) Act 2013 being committed by the government”, including the recent one of the registration of an FIR against a team of doctors associated with Liaquat National Hospital (LNH) without investigation required to be carried out by the commission under the law.

Sharing details of the incident, PMA’s Dr Mirza Ali Azhar recalled that a patient was recently discharged from the LNH after treatment.

“A few days later, the patient, a close relative of someone in the judiciary, was readmitted with some other complaints. Unfortunately, he died and soon after that all the doctors including a foreign qualified senior surgeon, who had been involved in the patient’s treatment, were booked,” Dr Azhar regretted, adding that now healthcare providers were running from pillar to post to get justice.

Citing clauses of the SHcC Act 2013, he said that no FIR could be registered against any healthcare worker/doctor unless the commission proved that the case in question was of medical negligence.

Alleges govt trying to bring its own people on healthcare commission

“It’s the responsibility of the commission to investigate cases and differentiate between a complication and negligence. Ironically, the commission expressed its helplessness when approached to intervene in this case following registration of an FIR,” Dr Azhar noted at a presser held at the PMA House.

The 2013 act reads: “The commission shall enquire, investigate into maladministration, malpractice and failures in the provision of healthcare service, and issue consequential advice and orders”.

Section 19 (1) of the act says: “Subject to sub-section (2) a healthcare service provider may be held guilty of medical negligence on one of the following two findings: (a) the healthcare establishment doesn’t have the requisite human resource and equipment, which it professes to have possessed; or (b) he or any of the employee did not, in the given case, exercise with minimum service delivery standard prescribed by government competence the skill which he or his employee did possess.”

According to Section 19 (2), the recognised and known complications of a medical or surgical treatment are not considered as medical negligence.

The PMA representatives also expressed concern over what they described as the government’s attempts to elect its own people as commissioners to the healthcare commission.

The elections for seven posts of commissioners out of the nine were held as per rules in August, they said, and the winners were announced in the same meeting attended by the health minister as well as the health secretary.

“We were waiting for an official notification about the seven elected members. But, surprisingly, the health department called another meeting last week for elections for the same posts, apparently in an attempt to bring people of its own choice,” PMA Sindh president Dr Muhammad Usman Mako said, adding that the representatives of medical professionals and vice chancellors of two public and private sector universities participated in the re-elections again.

“We couldn’t register our protest as re-elections were held without the health minister and secretary health in chair,” said Dr Azhar in reply to a question.

The delay in the notification, the speakers said, and exercise of new elections had created doubts and a sense of uncertainty.

“This whole exercise is illegal and against the democratic norms. We demand that the commissioners are allowed to play their due role. Otherwise, any illegal and unconstitutional move will be challenged at appropriate forums,” Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro said.

He lamented that the eight-year-old healthcare commission had failed to provide any relief to patients or doctors.

“Corruption is rampant at the commission, which is known for registering quacks and creating problems for qualified doctors,” Dr Shoro alleged.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2022