PESHAWAR, Jan 21: Shortage of staff was badly affecting the work of the department of forensic sciences and toxicology of the Khyber Medical College, sources told Dawn on Sunday.

"We conducted about 850 autopsies and 600 other chemical analyses in 2006," the sources said, adding that the department, which started post-mortem and other investigative services in 1980, was facing an acute shortage of staff and funds.

“The government has allocated no separate funds for the department and because of this the department is being run from resources of the Khyber Medical College (KMC),” the sources said.

The department has one professor, two assistant professors and four medical officers (MOs) who, besides delivering lectures to students, also perform autopsies, for which they are not paid.

The sources said that four doctors had been transferred from the department several years ago but their replacement was still awaited.

The department has seven vacant posts of medical officers but, despite several requests, no action has been taken by the health department to fill these vacant posts.

In early 90s, the health department had sanctioned seven posts of divisional medico-legal officers in BPS-19 to improve the standard of reports of autopsies and other investigations in district headquarters hospitals and civil hospitals.

However, the government, instead of appointing capable and eligible medico-legal officers to these posts, promoted doctors from the general cadre on the these posts, thus depriving the department of competent and motivated leadership and its cadre.

As a rule, the forensic department is a parent institution for all medico-legal officers of the province, and it is required to organise refresher courses and seminars to educate doctors about conduct of autopsies, but because of lack of resources the department is unable to do that.

The sources said that apart from performing their routine duties, the medico-legal officers were also required to visit courts in connection with recording of statements in courts at far-off places across the province besides visiting different places for exhumation of bodies. For this purpose no transport facility is provided to them.