LAHORE: In a surprise move, the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department (P&SHC) has enforced mandatory 12-hour duty shift for pharmacists in public hospitals, a sheer violation of the government’s working hour policy. The new working hours have irked many pharmacists, who expressed resentment over the decision and urged the authorities to review it. An official, on the condition of anonymity, told Daily Times that public hospitals were facing severe shortage of trained pharmacists, as merely 500 were working in public sector of Punjab. He said that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had also ordered posting of at least one clinical pharmacist against 50 beds in public sector hospitals, as there was a dire need to appoint pharmacists to improve the provincial healthcare delivery system. Instead of increasing seats of pharmacists in public hospitals, the government seemed more concerned about expanding the ‘network of admin officials’ on high salaries, he deplored, adding that as many as 21 officers would be recruited in the project management unit (PMU) of the P&SHC Department. The government would spend Rs 3.8 million per month on their salaries, which means that it would be spending Rs 45.6 million annually in addition to perks and privileges. The government, in the first phase, has also appointed 17 new positions of ‘support managers’ to monitor the district headquarter (DHQ) hospitals. The official claimed that each support manager was entitled to a minimum salary of Rs 130, 000 per month in addition to perks and privileges. He informed that the P&SHC Department issued instructions to executive district officers (health), medical superintendents of district headquarter hospital and tehsil headquarter hospitals, clarifying that the provincial government revised the duty hours of pharmacists with a view to ensure delivery of medicines to the general public in rural areas. He said according to new instructions, main medical store of each DHQ and THQ hospital shall remain open from 8am to 8pm even during Sunday as well as gazetted holidays. However, the notified policy of Punjab government made six days working week (from Monday to Saturday) with office timing from 8am to 3pm with half hour lunch break mandatory for officials. The administrations of hospitals were also directed to prepare a new duty roster for all pharmacists and storekeepers and one of them shall remain on duty till closing hours. All hospitals were bound to implement these instructions in letter and sprits, while the EDOs concerned were directed to ensure compliance of these directions. He deplored that the government was giving health professional allowance to doctors who were performing 6 to 8 hours duty, but pharmacists were deprived from such allowances despite the fact that they were backbone of the health system. Pharmacists and storekeepers would not be given overtime or any kind of allowance in return of extra duty hours, he concluded.