SHC orders health dept to submit report on hiring of doctors

The Sindh High Court on Wednesday directed the health department to submit a report with regard to fresh appointments of doctors recommended by the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC).

The directive came at a hearing of a petition seeking appointments of doctors in government-run hospitals in Shikarpur and the provision of adequate medical facilities for the patients. The court had at a previous hearing taken notice of the delay in the appointment of over 1700 doctors, including specialists, on vacant posts of government-run hospitals in the province and had directed the health department to explain why vacant posts had not been filled.

The deputy secretary of the health department requested time to submit a report with regard to fresh appointments of doctors recommended by the Sindh Public Service Commission.

The court granting time directed the government officer to submit the report by November 29. The court also issued an intimation notice to the SPSC chairman to depute an officer to assist the court and directed the additional health secretary to appear on the next date of the hearing.

The petitioner, Shahab Usto, that several victims of the Shikarpur Imambargah blast a couple of years ago had to be shifted to hospitals in Sukkur and Larkana due to a lack of proper medical facilities and specialised doctors at the Civil Hospital Shikarpur.

He added that many lives could have been saved had adequate facilities been available at the hospital. He said that many of the injured were shifted to the hospital in rickshaws and police mobiles as there was no ambulance available in the city.

Usto further submitted that the medical facilities available were not enough to cater to the needs of around one million population of the city, and several posts for specialised doctors and other staff were lying vacant despite an annual budget allocation of Rs22.3 million.

The court was requested to direct the government to fill in the positions and order an inquiry into why the posts of senior doctors and specialised surgeons at the hospital remained vacant.