Shahzad Rasheed
PESHAWAR: Provincial spokesperson of the Awami National Party (ANP), Arslan Khan Nazim , along with senior party leaders, on Wednesday alleged widespread corruption, mismanagement and deterioration of healthcare services in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the provincial government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, Arslan Khan claimed that major hospitals in the province, including Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) Peshawar and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), were facing serious administrative and operational problems, while alleged corruption involving billions of rupees had taken place in the name of providing healthcare to the people.
He said that no prostate surgery had been performed at LRH Peshawar for the past two months and claimed that the hospital had only 28 ICU beds, resulting in patients being forced to seek expensive treatment at private intensive care facilities. He further alleged that senior doctors were either unavailable or working on contracts with inadequate salaries, adversely affecting the quality of healthcare.
Regarding Hayatabad Medical Complex, the ANP spokesperson alleged serious financial and procurement irregularities. He claimed that the hospital’s finance department was functioning beyond effective administrative control and that proper records after September 2020 were unavailable. He further alleged that irregularities involving approximately Rs14 billion had surfaced in the two major hospitals, including alleged financial discrepancies in procurement and medicines.
Arslan Nazim also alleged that the post of Director General Health in the provincial Health Department was currently being managed on an acting basis and called for transparency in the appointment and functioning of senior health officials.
He said several hospitals and healthcare facilities in the province remained non-operational despite having staff and infrastructure. He specifically mentioned Fountain Hospital, facilities in Mardan for women and children, and the Khyber Institute of Child Health, alleging that these projects had remained incomplete or underutilised for years.
The ANP leader demanded that the provincial government make public all inquiries conducted into alleged corruption, as previously promised by the Chief Minister. He said investigations into public-sector hospitals should be conducted transparently and their findings made available to the public.
