KARACHI, July 31: The Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre has decided to lay off at least 40 junior doctors who were appointed on a contract basis after an equal number of doctors were appointed through the Federal Public Safety Commission.

The federal government-controlled tertiary care unit, which is the only public sector hospital dealing with neurological emergency cases, had hired 56 doctors, including females, on a contract basis one to two years ago. The doctors were, however, appointed on the condition that their services could be terminated when regular appointment of doctors through the FPSC was made.

All of the doctors were given an opportunity to apply in the FPSC examination and could be appointed on a regular basis through the commission. Efforts were being made to accommodate the junior doctors but there were some financial hurdles, the JPMC administration said.

“As the hospital is run by the federal government, we received a letter from Islamabad saying that 40 doctors have been appointed through the FPSC and we were instructed to lay off 40 of those junior doctors who had been appointed on a contract basis. We compiled the list and issued the letters to the 40 junior-most doctors,” Executive Director of the JPMC, Professor Dr Rasheed Juma, told Dawn.

He said that when the doctors had been appointed, it was written in their contract letters that they would be laid off when regular appointment of doctors was made through the FPSC.

“The letters the JPMC has issued to them carry the words ‘you are liable to be terminated’ as their appointment was on a contract basis,” Dr Juma said.