Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has expressed its concern over the letters being issued to the five Cardiac surgeons in Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar on the directives of the Board of Governors of the hospital. Through these letters the surgeons have been advised to increase their performance by increasing the number of open heart surgeries and each surgery must be done within 2 to 3 hours, Dr S M Qaisar Sajjad, Secretary General PMA said in a press release issued here on Thursday. They have also been asked to keep the mortality rate of their surgeries below 4 percent. It seems that the authority issued the letters is unaware of the operating standards of open heart surgery, it takes 4 to 6 hours to complete one surgery. The time period fixed by the authority cannot give good results. The mortality rate and results of the surgery depends on condition of patients, the expertise medical and paramedical staff and the facilities available in the hospital and operation theatre.
The most shameful aspect of these letters is that copy of the letters has been sent to media to initiate media campaign against these surgeons. This is not acceptable; it is humiliation of doctors for political gains.
"We demand the concerned authorities to stop issuing such advice which only aims at embarrassment of doctors through their media trial", he said. If there is any complain against these doctors then a proper process should be adopted in an ethical manner and a renowned and unbiased cardiac surgeon should be taken on board to conduct and impartial inquiry.-PR