PESHAWAR, June 20: The chief executives of the city’s hospitals have agreed, in principle, to abolish some of the wards where specialists have resigned against the launch of the institutional-based practice in the public sector hospitals.
The chief executives of Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Khyber Teaching Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) decided to abolish paeds surgery and chest units at a meeting held in KTH on June 13.
Dr Samad Wazir, a pulmonologist, has resigned and another pulmonologist, Dr Arshad Javed, has taken long leave. Abolition of the KTH’s ward, being run by Dr Mukhtiar Zaman Afridi, is on the cards and efforts are afoot to transfer Dr Afridi to the LRH to take the charge of the chest ward there.
Resignations of Dr Aizaz Ali Shah and Dr Tariq Hashim, and Dr Tariq Safi, who ran the neuro-surgery units at the LRH and HMC, respectively, have been accepted. The remaining specialist, Dr Mumtaz Khan would be transferred to the LRH’s neurosurgery unit.
The cardiovascular and cardiothoracic units at the LRH are going to be merged following the resignations of the doctors of these departments. The resignations of Dr Jalal Khan of the cardiovascular unit and Dr Zahoor of the cardiothoracic ward have been accepted. Another cardiovascular surgeon of the LRH, Dr Shahkar Ahmad has flown to Saudi Arabia in protest against the IBP.
The teaching hospitals will suffer further because the government has planned to merge the nephrology units of the LRH and the KTH, and to set up one ward at the HMC instead. The resignation Dr Arbab Nisar, a nephrologist, has also been accepted.
The paeds surgical unit of the KTH is likely to be closed because of the resignations of paeds surgeon, Dr Said Alam Mahsud. The paeds surgeon of the LRH, Dr Hazratullah Khattak, has also resigned.
Sources in the medical circles said the province would suffer more because the only women general surgeon, Dr Gulalai has resigned. They said that the resignations of orthopaedic surgeon Dr Khushnood Ali Baz had been accepted. Dr Shah Wali and Dr Irfan Qadir have been asked to continue with their jobs despite the fact that they had tendered their resignations.
Dermatologists Dr Khadimullah Kakakhel of the KTH and Dr Inamullah of the LRH have also resigned, and one of their colleagues, Dr Zubair Khan, has left the country for Sweden.