15 doctors suspended over refusal of medicine under Sehat Card scheme

PESHAWAR: At least 15 doctors of the Lady Reading Hospital have been suspended after they allegedly refused medicine to patients entitled under the Sehat Card scheme.

At Lady Reading Hospital, a complaint emerged through a video made by a relative of a patient admitted to the gynecology under the Sehat Card scheme.

The relative claimed that the patient was only provided medicines worth Rs130 under the health card, and the remaining medicines worth Rs30,000 had to be purchased by the patient’s relative.

After the video went viral on social media, Provincial Health Minister Qasim Ali Shah took notice, which led to an inquiry and subsequent suspension of 15 doctors from the gynecology department, including four female associate professors and 11 trainee doctors.

Also read: Sehat card scheme limits some services to govt hospitals

The hospital administration has issued a statement regarding this matter.

According to the statement, the suspended MO doctors include Dr Hina Javed, Dr. Kainat Allah Khan, Dr Khadija, Dr Syeda Maimoona Shah, Dr Ruqayya Jahangir, Dr Nighat Parveen, Dr Basirat, Dr Kulsoom, Dr Maryam Arif, Leila Asghar, and Dr Chand Kamil. The four associate professors, Dr Farnaz, Dr Mehnaz Rais, Dr Shahida Sultan, and Dr Leila Zeb, have also been suspended.

On the other hand, doctors’ associations have rejected the inquiry, stating that the doctors have been made scapegoats and the hospital administration’s shortcomings have been completely overlooked during the inquiry.