Cardiac Centre was inaugurated by former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in 2012. The other picture shows patients in the centre’s Out-Patient Department. — Photos by the writer
Orders issued by the Prime Minister’s Office for the immediate removal of all staff from the Cardiac Centre at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) who are involved in private practice could not be implemented as the doctors have obtained a stay order from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against adverse action.
According to sources in the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD), the Prime Minister’s Office has been informed about the stay ordered and a request has been made about guidance on the status of the staff in the Cardiac Centre.
Pims Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Akram said he is aware of the orders issued by the Prime Minister’s Office but he has so far not received any official orders from the ministry which is why he will not direct his staff to stop practice.
“Operations and the outpatient department at the Cardiac Centre are functioning according to routine and students are also being trained. Patients are getting treatment without any problems as all the staff who are conducting private practices are working [here],” he said.
Dr Akram said he met with Secretary Finance Shahid Mehmood on Nov 16 and requested him to address the issue as it will become a huge problem if doctors of the Cardiac Centre are stopped from practice. He said he will be meeting with the secretary finance and the secretary Establishment Division on Tuesday, Nov 21 to discuss the regularisation of staff and solve the issue for good.
Last month, the premier had directed CADD to hold an inquiry into private practices being conducted in Pims’ Cardiac Centre and send a report to the Prime Minister’s Office. Additional Secretary CADD Jamal Yousuf visited the hospital and in his report confirmed that private practice does go on in the centre.
On Nov 11, the Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Fawad Hasan Fawad issued a letter directing the immediate removal of all staff of the Cardiac Centre. The order, available with Dawn, said nine people involved in illegally conducting private practice at Pims be immediately removed from the hospital premises.
It said the Auditor General of Pakistan should hold a special audit to ascertain the illegal money received by the nine individuals directly in the form of fees as well as the money received by other Pims officers who permitted them to use Pims premises and facilities for conducting medical procedures.
It was further directed to institute legal proceedings against all these persons through the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), including the recovery of the money received by them and taking action against any person who is found involved in corruption or misconduct during the special audit or the FIA’s proceedings.
A CADD official told Dawn that last year, the ministry had moved a summary for regularising all doctors as the ministry wants to retain them and that the process of regularisation is also underway.
“The Prime Minister’s Office has been informed that the ministry cannot take adverse action against the employees as they have obtained a stay order from IHC and doing so will be contempt of court. We are bound to follow court orders but we are also looking towards the Prime Minister’s Office to guide us in dealing with the situation,” he said.