PESHAWAR: The orders of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi regarding the termination of the Lady Reading Hospital’s director over lack of patient care are unlikely to be implemented in light of an inquiry into the matter, insist official sources.
They told Dawn that the LRH’s administration had completed a probe ordered by the chief minister into his complaints about mismanagement and lack of patient care and would make it public after review by the board of governors.
On Dec 17, CM ordered the immediate termination of the LRH’s director and suspension of the head of the department (HoD) paediatric emergency over “poor performance and lack of patient care at the province’s largest hospital. The directives couldn’t be implemented immediately due to legal issues, according to officials.
They said the very next day, two separate probe committees were notified by the administration.
Report to be made public after review by hospital BoG
The officials said one panel comprising the director of finance (DF) as the head and director of human resource (HR) as a member was asked by the board chairman to assess the state of patient care in pursuance of the health department’s letter on the CM’s directives after his Dec 6 night visit and submit the fact-finding report within three days.
The inquiry committee, ordered by medical director (MD) and comprising the head of department (medicine) along with the head of the gynaecology department and an assistant professor of the radiology department, was tasked with reviewing the “patient management in a department, identify gaps, system level issues and any other contributing factors affecting patient care in addition to examine staffing patterns, patient load, effective resource utilisation and workflow.” The panel was told to make “practical and implementable recommendations for improvements and prevention of such issues.”
Sources said that the terms of reference for both probe committees were vague as they didn’t specifically investigate the issue, with the CM ordering the termination of the hospital director (HD) and suspension of the HoD (paediatric emergency).
They added that under the Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act, an MTI medical director was responsible for clinical care and the dean for matters related to research and faculty, while the HD supported all administrative work. The HD isn’t responsible for patient care, according to them.
The sources said the first inquiry panel was headed by the DF and HR director, who were unlikely to produce a “negative” report against HD, the senior administrative officer at the LRH. The panel was asked to assess the situation regarding patient care, a matter that falls in the domain of the MD and not HD.
The sources said that the committees would blame the extensive workload for “poor” patient care but won’t hold anyone responsible for it by designation.
They, however, said the BoG would order the suspension of the HoD of the paediatric emergency department and not HD.
Sources said that CM was widely appreciated for ordering the termination of HD and suspending the head of the paediatric emergency department but the orders couldn’t be implemented as the government rules and MTI law along with the relevant regulations were to be taken into consideration for such actions.
They said officials couldn’t be suspended or terminated without proper inquiries as such an action could lead to a relief for them from the court or law.
The sources claimed that there was a high likelihood of the CM’s orders being enforced partially and the paediatric emergency HoD getting suspended.
They, however, said it was unclear if the BoG would extend the employment contract of the hospital director whose five-year tenure was set to end this month.
Ruling out any punitive action, the sources said the LRH board of governors could issue warnings to the relevant officers and asked them to take steps to improve patient care.
Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2025