LAHORE: The federal government’s inability to make regular posting of the chairman and dean of the Shaikh Zayed Hospital (SZH) Lahore has made the institute one of the most vulnerable teaching hospitals in the province.

The administrative and financial situation is worsening to the extent that the conflict has brought two senior doctors, executive director Dr Akbar Hussain and academic affairs dean Prof Dr Waqar Hussain, to the verge of clash when the former used the administrative and financial powers of the chairman & dean while the latter declared it illegal and a violation of the regulations. Both the officers have been in a conflict for the last few months.

Everyone at the hospital, including doctors, nurses, and paramedics, are in the dark regarding the frequently asked question, “who is head of the Shaikh Zayed Hospital”.

The post had fallen vacant after the transfer of Prof Farid Ahmad Khan as chairman & dean in April 2018.

Academic affairs dean seeks inquiry into allegations; executive director refutes charges

Most of the faculty members of the hospital put entire blame on the federal health department, saying the non-appointment of regular chairman and dean of the hospital has not only led to the groupings among the senior medics but also brought the institute to a verge of closure. It is evident from the emerging reports that all the testing labs have been shut down, the admission ratio of the patients and the operation list have been reduced drastically.

The conflict between the abovementioned two senior doctors further intensified a few days back when Prof Waqar as ‘head of academic affairs’ transferred deputy dean Prof Mona Aziz and replaced her with Dr Talha Mahmood.

However, Dr Akbar while exercising the powers of chairman & dean as executive director cancelled the transfer order issued by Prof Waqar.

At this, Prof Waqar wrote a letter to the secretary of the National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSR&C) to steer the institute out of the crisis by making regular posting of chairman and dean.

In the letter, he stated that Dr Akbar had been directly instructing deputy dean Prof Mona Aziz, who persistently ignored his (Prof Waqar) office’s written instructions.

“Due to her ongoing non-compliance and lack of communication, I took the initiative to appoint another senior faculty member to assume the additional charge of deputy dean, ensuring the seamless execution of daily academic activities,” reads the letter (a copy is also available with Dawn).

As head of academic affairs, Dr Waqar said, he had the authority to replace his immediate subordinate with a more competent individual.

However, Dr Akbar Hussain issued a letter and directed the deputy dean not to vacate the office, thereby creating conflicts and hindrances in his (Prof Waqar) domain and work.

“Dr Akbar Hussain, without eligibility, utilizes the letterhead of chairman and dean,” Prof Waqar alleged in the official letter. He said it was imperative to note that the post of chairman and dean constituted a singular appointment and could not be divided.

Even when the regular post of chairman and dean was vacant, previous professors given the additional charge were designated as ‘chairman and dean’ and not dean or chairman alone. Kindly refer to the rules and regulations for the eligibility criteria for the post of chairman & dean, Prof Waqar asserted.

“I would also like to highlight the dire financial situation of the hospital under Dr Akbar Hussain’s administration,” reads the letter.

Due to corruption and mismanagement, the SZH was burdened with liabilities amounting to Rs3bn, resulting in the absence of essential services such as radiology and investigations, it said. In light of these allegations, Prof Waqar said, it is recommended that a high-level inquiry be initiated to thoroughly investigate the concerns and to ensure transparency and accountability in the management of the hospital.

Dr Akbar Hussain rejected all the allegations, saying the NHSR&C Islamabad had itself given him the administrative and financial powers of chairman and dean to be exercised as executive director of the institute. He said a notification in this regard was issued by the federal government on March 10, 2023, following the decision of the Supreme Court, which had ordered to assign these responsibilities to ‘a senior officer’ of the institute.

Raising a question to the posting of his rival, Dr Akbar alleged that NHSR&C Islamabad had not appointed Prof Waqar as the dean of the institute in-question.

“Prof Waqar was allowed to look after academic affairs of the teaching institute,” he said, adding that a notification in this respect was issued on May 4, 2023.

He said the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council had explained the domain of the ‘academic affairs’ which had nothing to do with the post of dean. However, Prof Waqar was using the office of the ‘dean’ illegally and in violation of the regulations.

Dr Akbar further said that he had cancelled the transfer order of Prof Waqar of posting of Dr Talha Mahmood as new deputy as he (Dr Talha) was a junior doctor.

“Dr Talha stands at 20 in the seniority list of the teaching hospital while Prof Mona was many times senior to him,” he said.

He also rejected the allegations of corruption at the hospital, saying the federal health ministry and Accountant General Pakistan Revenue had conducted separate audits of the institute and no such complaints were pointed out.

“When I went on official leave for four months in 2023, I had transferred my administrative and financial powers to Prof Waqar,” Dr Akbar said.

During that time of his absence, Dr Waqar had sufficient time to probe the allegations of corruption but he found nothing, he said and declared the severe budgetary deficit one of the major reasons behind the closure of the healthcare services at the hospital.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2024