The management of the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) Peshawar has suspended seven employees of the hospital for filming rainwater dripping from the ceiling of Operation Theater. According to sources, the suspended staff members were identified as Farid, Masood, Shakeel and Maaz, and operation theatre assistants Shahzeb, Nusrat and Younas, anesthesia technicians. They were suspended till further notice.
The management also formed a committee to investigate a complaint that was filed by the assistant manager of the Accident and Emergency Unit for the accused staff "not reporting [to] the administration [about] the roof leakage and the video making which is against the institutional policy". The committee's chairperson is Associate Hospital Director Muhammad Tariq Khan. Other members include Director Human Resource Abidur Rehman, Medical Officer Out-patient Department Dr Sher Ali and Electrical Engineer Ashiq Nawaz. It is pertinent to mention here that a some days back, the health of a person lying cut open for surgery is more at risk when the operation theatre has rainwater pitter-pattering on a piece of dirty cloth lying on the floor.
The horrific incident took place at Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar during rain. What makes the occurrence worse is the fact that it took place at the largest facility of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where people from not only across the province come for treatment, but those in the adjoining tribal areas also visit. The instances of rainwater seeping in the hospital have taken place in the past as well, as according to the medical director of the facility, the building is old and in a deplorable condition. However, LRH Spokesperson Zulfiqar Ali Babakhel said 16 projects were under way for the hospital's renovation, while work on the operation theatre will start mid-August.
Such incidents raise questions on the claims made by the provincial government, which promise to provide 'Sehat ka Insaf' to people of the province. Under the claim of Sehat ka Insaf the provincial government has provided to improve the health facilities across KP. In 2016, the issue of operations being carried out in torchlight had surfaced. It was revealed that the facility in question, the district headquarters hospital, had no electricity and even the generators been out of order while surgeries had to be carried out.