PESHAWAR: A former director of Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital has been appointed to the same key position at the Mardan Medical Complex despite Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s orders to the board of governors for his termination.

In December last year, CM Afridi visited the Lady Reading Hospital at night, took notice of the “poor performance and lack of patient care” at the province’s largest government hospital and ordered the immediate termination of the hospital director and suspension of the head of the paediatric emergency department.

However, the hospital’s board of governors, instead of complying with the CM’s orders, held an inquiry into the matter.

The inquiry exonerated both officials of the charges, prompting the board to allow HD Dr Mohammad Abrar Khan to complete his tenure instead of being terminated in line with the CM’s instructions.

Policy Board chairman defends appointment, calls it fair

On April 30, Dr Abrar was appointed HD to the Mardan Medical Complex Mardan on the orders of the chairman of the hospital’s BoG for the next five years.

BoG chairman Prof Arshad Javaid didn’t respond to this correspondent’s text message for a version on the matter.

However, chairman of the MTI Policy Board Prof Nausherwan Barki defended the appointment.

“If the recruitment process was fair and that was the decision of the MMC board, it’s fine,” he told Dawn.

The department had apprised the LRH BoG of the chief minister’s orders for terminating the HD and suspending the paediatrics emergency head through a letter, which pointed out that the CM paid a surprise visit to the LRH paediatrics emergency department at midnight on Dec 16 to “assess the situation” and found patient care “more pathetic than what was reported.”

“The attendants’ feedback supplemented the evidence of poor patient care,” the letter quoted the CM as saying.

Officials said the immense powers enjoyed by the BoGs had led them to ignore the health department’s directives in the past, but in this case, they ignored even the CM’s clear directives.

According to the letter, the CM voiced serious dissatisfaction with the overall performance of the hospital, particularly regarding patient management, cleanliness, staff responsiveness and adherence to standard operating procedures. He noted that the 1,800-bed largest tertiary care hospital in the province received an annual budget of Rs8 billion from the provincial government, so it was expected to ensure the provision of prompt, efficient and adequate medical care, particularly to emergency cases and vulnerable patients such as newborn babies.

The Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act (MTIRA) has been enforced in 11 teaching hospitals and their affiliated medical and dental colleges of the province since 2015. The MTI-covered institutions are governed by BoGs whose members are drawn from the private sector. They make top appointments to the respective MTIs on their own, with the health department having no authority in their affairs.

The department ordered audits of MTIs twice last year but that didn’t happen, according to officials.

They also said in some cases, senior officials were terminated from one MTI before they’re given posts in other MTIs, as there was no check on BoGs.

The officials said all MTIs continued to receive budgets from the government and spend them in line with their own needs.

They said boards could abolish posts, redesignate them and create new positions without seeking the health department’s approval.

The officials said that the situation had causedembarrassment for the government as MTIs had created a battery of managerial positions with high salaries, but their performance was not up to the desired standard.

They said before the introduction of MTIs, the public hospitals in the province were run by a few doctors with qualifications in health management who received salaries as per the government pay scale. The officials said the salaries of MTI dean, medical director, HD and finance, nursing and human resources directors were much higher than those of BPS-22 government officers.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2026