Newly appointed PIMS Burns Unit director removed after doctors protest

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The frequent transfers and postings of doctors in the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) and Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) is causing severe unrest among patients and the staff.

The doctors and other staff of the PIMS Burns Centre staged a protest demonstration on Thursday and suspended the routine work of the hospital for some time after the newly-appointed administrator of SZABM, Dr Fazle Maula appointed Dr Mutahir Shah, a junior officer as Director Burns Centre on February 24.

Dr. Fazle Maula appointed Dr. Mutahir Shah without removing the incumbent head of the facility Professor Dr. Tariq Iqbal, who left a lucrative job in America to serve the country.

The protestors marched towards the vice chancellor of SZABMU, Professor Javed Akram’s office to raise their voice against what they dubbed as an unjust move.

They held a meeting with Professor Javed Akram and pressed for the withdrawal of the director. Their protest yielded results as Dr. Fazle Maula had to issue another notification nullifying the appointment of Dr. Mutahir Shah as Director Burns Centre.

Sources within the hospital said that Dr. Fazle Maula took the initiative under a well-thought-out plan to firm his grip on the affairs of the hospital for which he even violated the very set rule of the hospital.

They said that he issued the notification without taking the VC Professor Javed Akram into confidence, who during the meeting showed ignorance about the development.

As according to the rules, Burn Centre will be run under the administrative and financial control of the executive director of PIMS. Consultant surgeon will be recruited and will act as head of the unit for discipline and administration of the burns centre.

They said that it is unlawful and quite resentful for the doctors, as Dr. Mutahir Shah serving in (BS-18) was appointed as the Director of Burn Centre, which headed by Professor Dr. Tariq Iqbal serving in (BS-20).

They said that Mutahir Shah is neither a clinician doctor nor a surgeon, while Dr. Tariq Iqbal is a thorough professional and well-qualified surgeon.

The PIMS burn centre is one of the most burdened and state-of-the-art burn centre in the public sector and caters patients from Punjab, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

It is pertinent to mention here that Dr. Fazle Maula, executive director of the National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM), has been assigned additional charge as administrator of SZABMU on the instructions of Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development Division (CA&DD) Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry on February 11.

Whereas, the director/administrator of SZABMU Dr. Altaf Hussain has been posted as director general (development) at CADD and Dr. Ayesha Isani was removed from the post of additional director medical and been asked to work against her original post in the Department of Radiology at SZABMU.

The postings were being cited as the first step towards the much-needed reforms of SZABMU, as there has not been a single posting or transfer at any level at PIMS during the last four years.

However; they said that the appointment of a junior officer as director casted doubt over the sincerity and fairness of the reform process in the hospital.

 

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