MIANWALI, June 16: The thalassaemia centre at District Headquarters Hospital went inoperative a day after Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif inaugurated it.

Reports said some people brought their children for blood transfusion to the newly-established thalassaemia centre on Saturday but were shocked to find the door locked. They tried to contact Medical Superintendent Dr Hafiz Abdul Qadir but he was found absent.

The disappointed parents reported the matter to District Coordination Officer Zulfiqar Ahmed who, along with Assistant Commissioner Raja Muhammad Ashraf, rushed to the hospital and got the centre opened.

To their utter surprise, the blood transfusion equipment which was kept there on the day of inauguration was missing. The duty doctor, nursing staff and MS were absent from duty.

The district coordination officer informed the matter to the health secretary who ordered to surrender the services of Medical Superintendent Dr Hafiz Abdul Qadir and EDO Health Dr Munir Akhtar Subhani to the health secretariat, Lahore.

The DCO deputed AC Raja Muhammad Ashraf to inquire into the matter and fix responsibility.

The DCO told Dawn he promptly acted and conveyed the matter to the health secretary. He said he had retrieved the missing gadgets of thalassaemia centre to keep it operational round the clock.

He said he had formed a monitoring committee headed by AC Raja Ashraf with non-government organisation representatives Junaid Ishtiaq and Imranullah Shah as its members, who would report him daily about progress of the centre. He said the centre had been established purely on humanitarian grounds.

It is pertinent to mention that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani visited Rokhri in July 2010 and distributed cheques among the flood victims at a health centre set up in a school but all ‘patients’ disappeared soon after his departure.

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Punjab Chief Minister Khwaja Salman Rafiq, taking notice of the issue, has directed Health Director-General Dr Nisar Ahmad Cheema to immediately conduct an inquiry into the matter and submit a report.