KHYBER: Workers of Rescue 1122 and medical superintendent (MS) of the district headquarters hospital got into a scuffle here on Friday after heated exchanges over the use of the emergency service’s ambulance.

Witnesses claimed that the angry Rescue 1122 workers tried to manhandle MS Dr Jamshed Sherani prompting his private guard to point his gun at the former.

They added that the MS used foul language against rescue workers after they refused to follow his orders to take a patient to Peshawar for treatment in their ambulance.

The witnesses said Dr Sherani argued that the hospital had consumed all its fuel stocks during the rescue operation after the recent Torkham landslide.

Police arrest guard of MS, official of Rescue 1122

The police took the guard of the MS and a rescue worker into custody.

Paramedics later announced the immediate suspension of services at the hospital to protest what they called the highhandedness and insulting attitude of Dr Sherani towards them.

Rescue workers argued that Dr Sherani made the patient’s shifting an excuse for the incident but actually, he tried to evict them from the hospital premises where they had established a temporary centre after duly obtaining the permission of the director-general (health services).

When contacted, Dr Sherani contended that he wanted to establish an isolation ward for mpox cases after formally receiving orders from the district administration.

He insisted that he was willing to provide an alternate place to Rescue 1122 inside the premises but workers of the emergency service refused to vacate their place and instead scuffled with him.

Jumping into the fray, the Grand Health Alliance, a body of local doctors and paramedics, announced solidarity with rescue workers. It accused the MS of misusing his authority while running the affairs of the hospital.

GHA president Mujeebur Rehman Afridi told Dawn that the DHQ hospital had been embroiled in controversies since Dr Sherani took charge of the MS’s office.

He said the MS transferred a number of doctors, including specialists, due to insulting behaviour.

“The health directorate initiated an inquiry against the MS for blocking the payment of salary to nurses, while another probe by the anti-corruption department is under way over the alleged misappropriation of funds,” he said.

Mr Afridi said the health directorate hadn’t made the inquiry report public, while the other probe against the MS was progressing at a snail’s pace.

Dr Sherani denied those allegations and claimed that doctors and nurses turned against him for checking their private practice on hospital premises and withholding payment of salary to “habitual” absentee employees.

The local elders and civil society activists also demanded of the health department to immediately remove the MS to resolve the issue.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2023