ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) Islamabad chapter has condemned the move of the health ministry to appoint army officers as heads of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) and Polyclinic, terming it a conspiracy to create differences between civil society and military establishment.

In a joint statement issued by Dr Mian Rasheed, Dr Riaz Shehbaz Janjua, Dr Mohammad Ajmal, Dr Abid Saeed, Dr Omer Farooq and Dr Rana Jawad, attempt to appoint Pakistan Army Medical Corps officers as heads of public-sector health facilities would not be acceptable and the association would resist the move.

“We warn the health ministry to refrain from any such decision as it will be an insult to civil doctors. The ministry has made a deliberate attempt to defame the doctors and create differences between civil society and institution,” the statement added.

A senior doctor, on condition of anonymity, said there were a number of competent doctors who could run hospitals and it would not be wise to hand over hospitals to officers of armed forces.

Terms it attempt to create differences between civil society, military

“It is strange that how the health ministry has demanded officers of BS-21 from the Ministry of Defence as only the prime minister has the right to appoint such officers,” he said.

It is worth mentioning here that the caretaker government has decided to appoint serving officers of the Pakistan Army Medical Corps as heads of the two largest state-run hospitals in Islamabad — Pims and Polyclinic — on deputation for three years.

A letter from the health ministry sent to the defence ministry said the posts of the executive director (ED) in Pims and Polyclinic were vacant due to unavailability of eligible officers from the feeding cadre for promotion to ED. It stated that because of the “importance it cannot be left out to function without qualified heads of the institutions”.

“In order to ensure effective healthcare service delivery for the public at large in ICT, it has been desired to fill the posts on secondment basis from Pakistan Army Medical Corps as an interim arrangement,” it added.

“…It is, therefore, requested to convey the availability/spareability of qualified and capable hospital managers of equivalent grade i.e. BS-21 from Pakistan Army Medical Corps for posting as ED Pims and FGPC (BS-21) on deputation basis for a period of three years and until further orders under standard terms and conditions,” the letter stated.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2023