LAHORE, May 9: The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan says it has not withdrawn accreditation from obstetrics and gynaecology departments of the King Edward Medical College.

Apropos of a report titled "CPSP de-accredits FJMC, KEMC departments", which was published by Dawn in its May 5 edition, the CPSP said it had even restored accreditation to the obstetrics, gynaecology and paediatrics units of the Fatima Jinnah Medical College, following a re-inspection.

It said it had also not withdrawn the accredited status of the FJMC departments of surgery, ophthalmology and radiology. The CPSP said it had only prescribed four to eight trainees' limit for a supervisor and "never stopped any other postgraduate training programme".

The four to eight trainees under a supervisor may include those being trained for FCPS, MS, MD and other equivalent postgraduate programmes. The only condition is that the number of people being trained for other programmes is deducted from the total number of CPSP trainees allowed.

In case any institution or department fails to fulfill any of the requirements, the CPSP reserves the right to withdraw its accredited status. In last one year, 93 units/departments of 43 institutions, which did not have the required number of trainees or did not meet other mandatory requirements like availability of qualified supervisors or other essential facilities, were "de-accredited".

Moreover, the CPSP claimed that its mandatory workshops for fellowship cost much less than Rs50,000. The total cost incurred on the four-year training programme was Rs74,000, in contrast to the MBBS programme for which the annual tuition fee alone amounted to Rs300,000, it added.