Daily Times

The sub-committee of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, while taking up the long-pending issue of the Capital Development Hospital (CDA) Hospital’s alleged corruption in hiring process, dysfunctional cardiac center and ventilators during the past 10 years, on Tuesday decided to refer to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for further digging.

Senator Javid Abbasi told the committee that during the pandemic of the covid-19 the delivery of the capital hospital of the civic agency was poor and pathetic because the cardiac center in the hospital was established back in 2014 but no single patient was attended by the ward to be treated adding that there are 08 ventilators in the hospital but was not used during the episode of the pandemic. He added that during the pandemic period we were begging to the world for providing us ventilators but inside the capital 08 ventilators were available but there is no single expert to use the ventilators in the hospital despite spending a huge budget in the hospital.

The committee lamented on poor management of the capital hospital mentioned that billions of budgets spent on the hospital but in the hospital no single in charge of blood bank is available adding that since 2011 a total of 200 vacant positions are waiting of hiring but no single person was hired by the civic agency in past 09 years. The committee noted that those involved in the criminal negligence of the civic agency’s hospital should be dealt strictly according to the law and the matter should be forwarded on emergency basis to the investigative agency that the hospital that no one in future commit negligence.

The committee chair noted that the hospital is facing shortage of doctors and paramedic staff since long but no one is taking this issue serious and people are facing enormous difficulties during treatment in the hospital.

Executive Director of the Capital hospital Fayyaz Lodhi told the committee that cardiac center and ventilators are not able to be functional because there are no experts in hospital adding that since 2011 the doctors and paramedics staff was retiring but no fresh hiring was done in the hospital. He added that the civic agency advertise for fresh hiring but the matter was questioned by the parliamentary committee due to the provincial quota issue and now the civic agency will announce fresh advertisement keeping in view the provincial quota issue.

The committee chair Rana Maqbool Ahmad noted that the constructing hospital in the country are only done for the treatment of the patients but despite investing billions the administrative issues create hindrance which should be fixed immediately. The committee directed FIA to start investigation and submit a report to the committee in one month.