PESHAWAR: The administration of Hayatabad Medical Complex has requested the health department to temporarily close the offices of the provincial Tuberculosis Control Programme citing violence against its employees by the latter’s staff members as the reason.

The HMC administration accused TCP employees of resorting to violence but the allegation was rejected by the latter.

The TCP offices are located on the premises of HMC.

The Hayatabad Medical Complex, one of the largest hospitals in the province, became a battleground as its and TCP employees had heated exchanges that led to violence.

The TCP administration blamed the incident on the use of abusive language by a doctor against its employees.

Programme officials deny allegation, demand impartial probe

On Tuesday, a trainee medical officer of the HMC had a brawl with a Class IV employee of TCP over a car parking issue that caused physical aggression between them.

The next day, the TMO was invited to TCP offices to resolve the issue but the situation turned violent after a heated discussion, with both sides starting assaulting each other, leaving doctors injured.

HMC director Dr Sher Zaman said that the violence left four doctors injured and hospitalised.

However, the TCP’s administration denied any “wrongdoing” by its employees and insisted that the staff members were abused and thrashed by HMC doctors on the “pretext of a patch-up.”

The TCP officials accused doctors of coming up with “concocted medical evidence” and demanded impartial inquiry to bring those responsible for the incident to justice.

Meanwhile, HMC medical director Prof Shah Sawar formally requested the health secretary to close TCP offices until “mediation is reached and the matter is brought under control.”

In a letter, he said an “unfortunate incident”occurred between staff members of HMC and Class-IV staff of TCP on Tuesday but it was later settled through mutual understanding.

“At 2pm on Wednesday, another serious confrontation cropped up when the HMC’s staff members were called to TCP offices to resolve the matter amicably, but on arrival, they were confronted and attacked by a group of 15-20 individuals armed with weapons, knives and sticks.

The HMC doctors were badly beaten up, resulting in serious injuries, including one case of head trauma, a possible broken arm, a broken tooth and multiple other injuries,” he noted in the letter.

The HMC medical director also said a staff member of TCP recorded the incident on a mobile phone instead of attempting to defuse the situation, suggesting that the attack was pre-planned.

Doctors from various HMC departments demanded the registration of an FIR and disciplinary action “culprits.”

The TCP administration said that 12 of its employees, including officers, had been detained by the police without registration of FIRs. It demanded an immediate release of the detainees.

Health adviser Ihtisham Ali also directed the administration of HMC to take stern action against the culpable persons and said the hospital was meant for the provision of healthcare facilities to visitors, so violence on its premises won’t be tolerated.

The Provincial Doctors Association and Young Doctors Association condemned the incident and termed it an attempt on the lives of their senior colleague.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2025