PM Orders Inquiry Into Non-Functional CT Angiography Facility at PIMS
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered a formal inquiry into the non-functional CT coronary angiography facility at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, directing officials to determine why the service was unavailable and identify those responsible. The move places the functioning of a key diagnostic facility at one of the federal capital's largest public hospitals under official scrutiny.
The prime minister constituted an inquiry committee headed by the Secretary of the Establishment Division. Its members include the Secretary of the National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Division, Brigadier Dr Jahanzeb Ali of the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology, Dr Nusratullah Chaudhry, Professor Dr Nadeem Hayat Malik, retired Brigadier Dr Azmat Hayat of PIMS and AFIC CT angiography technician Umar Farooq. The committee has also been authorised to include additional members if required.
Under its terms of reference, the committee will examine whether PIMS possessed the technical capacity to conduct CT coronary angiography from 2022 onward. Investigators have been instructed to establish whether the necessary equipment, software, trained personnel and supporting technical facilities were available during the period under review and whether they were being used effectively.
The inquiry will also review hospital records to determine how many CT coronary angiography procedures were carried out at PIMS since 2022, along with their dates and nature. CT coronary angiography is a non-invasive imaging procedure used to examine the coronary arteries, making the availability and proper operation of such a service significant for cardiac diagnosis at a major tertiary-care public hospital.
Another major focus will be coordination between the Cardiology and Radiology departments. The committee has been tasked with assessing referral procedures between the two departments and examining the role of the PIMS administration in ensuring that the diagnostic facility remained available to patients. Any breakdown in coordination, administrative shortcomings or misunderstanding that affected the service will be investigated.
The government has also ordered scrutiny of referrals from PIMS to private medical centres. Investigators will determine whether cardiology patients were routinely sent outside the public hospital for CT coronary angiography and, if so, whether any particular private facility received preferential referrals. The committee will further assess the financial value of medical business that may have shifted from PIMS to private centres because the public-sector facility was not functioning.
Prime Minister Shehbaz directed the committee to conduct a comprehensive review of relevant documents, technical records and administrative decisions before fixing responsibility. The inquiry is expected to identify any officers or offices responsible for mismanagement or failures that may have harmed the public interest. The National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Division has been instructed to provide the committee with the assistance required to complete its work.
The findings could lead to further administrative or legal action depending on what the committee establishes. Beyond individual responsibility, the inquiry is expected to clarify whether PIMS had the resources to provide the service but failed to make them operational, a question with wider implications for accountability, patient access and the effective use of diagnostic infrastructure in Pakistan's public healthcare system.