ISLAMABAD: A PIMS staff shortage has left only 467 doctors working against 852 sanctioned positions, according to figures from the Ministry of National Health Services presented in parliament.
The ministry documents also showed 363 nursing vacancies out of 1,093 sanctioned posts at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), while 215 paramedical positions remain unfilled.
At the Federal Government Polyclinic Hospital in Islamabad, the ministry listed 90 vacant doctor posts, 45 nursing vacancies and 104 unfilled paramedical positions. The National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM) has another 17 vacant doctor posts.
The figures also showed that Federal General Hospital has 10 doctor and 27 nursing vacancies. Islamabad’s District Health Office has eight vacant doctor posts and six nursing vacancies.
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Staffing shortages at PIMS predate the latest figures. An official PIMS yearbook for 2023-24 recorded 811 sanctioned doctor positions, of which 434 were vacant, along with 283 nursing and 136 paramedical vacancies.
The National Assembly Standing Committee on National Health Services has also previously called for vacant PIMS positions to be filled, citing concerns over the hospital’s ability to provide services efficiently.
The ministry data additionally listed 131 doctor, 129 nursing and 163 paramedical vacancies at Shaikh Zayed Postgraduate Medical Institute, which is located in Lahore rather than Islamabad.
