The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the health department, Liaquat University Hospital (LUH) and others to file their replies on petitions that questioned a tender with regard to the import of robotic surgical systems by the government for Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and Liaquat University Hospital, Hyderabad and Jamshoro, at rates much higher than their market price.
The direction came on a petition of Khawar Mehmood Afridi, who had challenged the tender for the procurement of robotic surgical systems for the JPMC and LUH, Jamshoro. The petitioner submitted that the Sindh government issued a tender for the import of robotic surgical systems for the JPMC and LUH without fulfilling lawful procedures.
He alleged that officials in the health department were hand in gloves to siphon off the public money by committing fraud in public procurement, which was evident from the fact that the cost of the robotic surgical system was $37,500 per unit in open market, but the same was intended to be purchased for $1.5 million and ultimately the supplier would have earned a profit of more than 1,500 per cent.
The petitioner submitted that former caretaker health minister Dr Saad Khalid Niaz also halted the deal for the procurement of the robotic surgical system for four hospitals, involving Rs4.427 billion, and opined that such funds were required to be used for necessary health needs.
He submitted that poor people of the province were facing lack of first aid treatment in government hospitals due to a shortage of medicines, medical equipment and medical staff, and funds allocated for the robotic surgical system could be utilised for essential medical equipment for hospitals on a priority basis. He said the tender process should be transparent and measures should be adopted to save the public money.
A counsel for the petitioner also drew attention of the court to a letter written in May last year pertaining to procurement issues at the LUH. It read that although funds amounting to Rs2,133.432 million were sanctioned for the purchase of the robotic surgery system, but no such system had been procured. The counsel said that as per the letter, the hospital was already facing shortage of advanced machinery and equipment while patient load and bed occupancy were continuously increasing.
The letter read that originally proposed robotic surgery project was initiated by the health department however subsequent directives were issued to halt the procurement process. The correspondence further reflected that in view of financial constraints, high operational and maintenance costs of robotic surgery and absence of trained technical staff, it would be appropriate to utilise the sanctioned funds for procurement of essential medical machinery and equipment for various departments.
The counsel said that as per correspondence, permission was sought for reallocation of funds for upgrade of hospital facilities in the interest of the patients. A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Adnanul Karim Memon after hearing the counsel issued notices to the health secretary, LUH and others, and called their comments. The high court also directed the LUH registrar to appear before the court on the next hearing.
