HYDERABAD: Twenty-four out of a total of 34 posts of medico-legal officers, male and female, lie vacant in hospitals in Hyderabad and Jamshoro districts, causing great annoyance to heirs when a hospital takes unusually long time to complete legal formalities for the dead bodies because of shortage of staff.

Bereaved family members have to suffer nerve wracking wait outside mortuaries for receiving bodies of their loved ones. Oftentimes, they lose patience and resort to violent protests to force hospitals to rush through medico-legal formalities and post-mortem and hand them over the bodies for last rites.

In addition to acute shortage of staff ill-equipped and outdated mortuary and cold storage at the Liaquat University Hospital (LUH) Hyderabad and Jamshoro, Sindh Government Paretabad Hospital and Government Bhittai Hospital in Latifabad-5 also add to heirs’ agony.

Hyderabad police surgeon Dr Ayaz Hussain Memon, who oversees medico-legal services at the four centres, said that he had written several times to secretary of health, director general of health and district health officer (DHO to provide required facilities including staff and rehabilitate the dilapidated and outdated cold storage and mortuary at LUH Hyderabad, which was the only one such service in the city, but his requests fell on deaf ears.

Only 10 MLOs doing job of 34 in Hyderabad, Jamshoro hospitals

“Is it humanly possible to run this important and sensitive section with even a semblance of efficiency when 24 out of total 34 posts of MLOs, WMLOs, senior MLOs and WMLOs, and additional police surgeon remain vacant,” he said.

Giving break-up of the vacant posts, he said that 13 sanctioned posts of MLOs (BPS-17), three out of eight posts of senior MLOs (BPS-18), one out of four posts of additional police surgeon (BPS-19), all six posts of women medico-legal officers (WMLOs) and one post of senior WMLO were vacant.

He said that there was only one senior WMLO to conduct post-mortem and carry out medico-legal formalities for both Hyderabad and Jamshoro districts at the four centres. No order had been issued so far for filling the posts of six WMLOs and one senior WMLO while the only senior WMLO frequently complained to him against back-breaking workload, he said.

He said that 11 MLOs who had been working in other areas had been transferred to Hyderabad but none had assumed the charge so far. LUH Hyderabad alone conducted 15-20 post-mortem and 200-300 medico-legal formalities a month, he said.

Shabby and outdated cold storage and mortuary Of the four centers only LUH Hyderabad mortuary has six-body refrigerator. But the facility often remains out of order. The cold storage and mortuary had been established over 25 years back and badly needed overhauling, according to sources.

The mortuary should be expanded in view of ever rising number of bodies killed in accidents or other incidents. Its storage and waiting room needs expansion, washroom ventilation and floor re-pavement.

The heirs are assailed by a very unpleasant stench when go into the cold storage and mortuary to receive or identify bodies of their loved ones, forcing them to hurry back as soon as possible.

Acting director general (DG) of health services Dr Mobin Ahmed Memon said that he wrote to the departments concerned on Friday to relieve all the 11 MLOs who had failed to assume charge and ask them to report to Hyderabad police surgeon immediately, otherwise disciplinary action would be taken against them.

He said that if the MLOs were already relieved, Hyderabad district account office could be asked to stop their salaries. An employee had seven days time to report at the new place of posting where he or she had been transferred, he said.

He said that he had to go through the procedure. “I cannot transfer a 17-grade and above officer, I have to write to my immediate boss, secretary of health or government in this respect,” he said.

As far as vacancies of WMLOs were concerned, he had already sent a request to the government, he added.

He said that 2,841 lady doctors out of total 5,402 were recruited about six months back. Although new doctors had been posted, a large number of senior doctors had retired as well, he said.

He said that if police surgeon Dr Ayaz had written for the rehabilitation of the cold storage and the mortuary, the request would be well under process because it took a minimum of 16 months for a new project to get approved.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2018