PESHAWAR: The government has addressed concerns about absenteeism and irregular attendance among medical staff in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) by announcing salary deductions for employees who arrive late or leave early at hospitals and healthcare centers across province.
Newspaper reports state that all four Regional Health Directors, covering Central, Northern Hazara, and Southern Hazara regions, have been instructed to review biometric attendance data from the past ten days. They must submit detailed reports to the Health Department after completing their reviews.
The directive notes that late arrivals and early departures by healthcare staff have become common, affecting service delivery. It states that such behavior impacts the quality of public healthcare and needs immediate correction.
To tackle the issue, the government has set penalties. A full day’s salary will be deducted if an employee’s attendance falls short of required hours multiple times.
Two instances of late arrival or early departure will count as one casual or earned leave. Casual leave is a benefit provided by the institution, not a guaranteed right. If no leave balance is available, absences will be marked as leave without pay.
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If the issue continues despite deductions, further disciplinary actions, such as withholding annual increments, may be applied. District Health Officers and Medical Superintendents have been told to enforce biometric attendance systems strictly and report ten days of attendance data to the Health Department.
This step is part of the government’s efforts to improve accountability and ensure reliable healthcare services in public medical facilities.
Additionally, the K-P government plans to fill 248 vacant management cadre posts in the Health Department, the recruitment of 600 specialist doctors through the Public Service Commission will also be sped up.
The Provincial Doctors Association has supported the decision, noting that these posts have been vacant for years. Following the association’s request, the Health Advisor has agreed to relax the age limit for applicants, previously set at 32 years.
A five-year age relaxation will be granted, and rules will be amended to allow doctors over 32 to apply. The advisor has also ordered the recruitment process for the 600 specialist doctors to be expedited, with instructions issued to send these posts to the Public Service Commission promptly.
