Nishtar Hospital faces dearth of doctors

MULTAN: Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has criticised the Punjab government for transferring senior faculty members from Nishtar Hospital and Medical University to Dera Ghazi Khan, as Multan is facing critical shortage of medical faculty being the only major hospital in the south Punjab region.

The PMA has warned launching protest drive against the government policy of entertaining selected district by depriving the remaining hospitals. PMA president Prof Dr Masudur Rauf Haraj and other office bearers lashed out at the government in a joint press conference held at the Nishtar Medical University on Monday. They blamed the provincial government for cutting health facilities from Multan to entertain Dera Ghazi Khan district.

Prof Haraj said the Punjab government had transferred six professors to Dera Ghazi Khan on October 6 while direct recruitment for the district was pending since long. Prof Dr Nasreen Siddiqui of NMU community medicine, Prof Dr Khalid Usman of Pathology Department, Prof Dr M Khalil of Orthopedics, Prof Dr Abdul Jabbar of Pharmacology, Prof Dr Ghulam Abbas of Nephrology and Prof Dr Abdul Latif of Pediatrics Surgery have been ordered to resume charge in DG Khan while the NMU was facing critical shortage of medical faculty.

He demanded cancellation of transfers of NMU doctors to overcome this shortage and direct recruitment for DG Khan. He said Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar was the CM of entire province rather a district.

He should pay special heed to resolution of problems of faculty members’ shortage at Nishtar Hospital which is already overcrowded and serving the patients not only from Multan but also from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said the sanctioned strength for Nishtar Hospital and NMU was 340 professors, associate professors, assistant professors, medical officers and others but only 167 posts could be filled, leaving 173 posts of senior faculty members vacant since long. He said the Punjab government had sanctioned 41 posts of professors but 19 posts were left vacant at the NMU, 44 posts of associate professors were sanctioned but 14 were left vacant, 74 posts of assistant professors were sanctioned but 28 were left vacant and 15 posts of APMO were sanctioned but 15 were left vacant.