RAWALPINDI – Punjab government has placed the medical superintendent ofBenazir Bhutto Hospital under suspension “on account of negligence andmisconduct”, a notification said on Monday.
Dr Tariq Masood Khan Niazi, a government doctor of Grade-20 has beenreplaced by Dr Samina Shaheen, according to the notification.
Dr Niazi was embroiled in controversy last year after a leaked audio callrevealed that Raja Basharat had allegedly threatened the Benazir BhuttoHospital MS over disobeying his orders regarding transferring PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi’s daughter.
In the audio, the minister can be heard ordering Dr Niazi to transferAreeba Abbasi to the skin department of the hospital. As Dr Tariq Niazirefuses to obey, Basharat can be heard threatening him with dismissal fromhis post.
Dr Tariq Niazi also confirmed to local media that the minister threatenedhim on phone.
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Dr Areeba Abbasi resigned from her post, alleging that the Benazir BhuttoHospital MS had been victimising her because of her father’s politicalaffiliations.
In the resignation letter she sent to the Punjab health secretary, DrAreeba said she joined the hospital in 2017 and since then has served as acasualty medical officer and then in the pathology department. She was thenappointed as a medical officer in the dermatology department.
However, the hospital’s medical superintendent Dr Tariq Niazi suddenlytransferred her to the emergency department. She said there were nobehavioral issues that would have spurred this transfer and she wasn’tgiven any explanation for the multiple transfers.