The Health Department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has warned of strict disciplinary action against medical superintendents of 24 hospitals for alleged violations of financial rules in the procurement of medicines.
Director-General of Health Services Dr. Shaheen Afridi has directed the heads of 13 secondary care and 11 primary care hospitals to immediately submit explanations regarding the irregularities in their purchasing practices.
According to official sources, approximately Rs1.355 billion was reportedly spent in breach of financial discipline during the 2025–26 fiscal year. The concerns were formally raised through a notification highlighting serious deviations from prescribed procedures in the utilisation of medicine budgets.
The notice pointed out that expenditures in several cases exceeded approved purchase orders and verified deliveries. It also revealed that payments were processed without mandatory clearance from drug testing laboratories, violating established protocols.
Authorities further observed that hospitals ignored repeated instructions, including restrictions on using current funds to settle liabilities from previous years and the requirement to allocate at least 80 per cent of the medicine budget through the Chief Minister’s Medicines Operations Portal system.
Officials stated that despite the introduction of the digital monitoring platform, hospitals continued to procure medicines locally at higher prices instead of purchasing directly from manufacturers at significantly lower rates. They also failed to adhere to rules requiring drug quality testing prior to procurement.
Additionally, hospitals were only permitted to use a limited portion of their budget for emergency local purchases, but reports suggest that a substantial share of funds was spent through this channel. Some institutions have reportedly exhausted their entire medicine budgets prematurely, raising concerns about future shortages.
Health Secretary Shahidullah Khan had earlier instructed hospital administrations not to use current allocations to clear past dues and instead submit details for financial resolution through proper channels.
Officials have also highlighted systemic issues, including alleged collusion between hospital administrators, district health officers, and untrained store staff with pharmaceutical suppliers. They stressed the need to appoint qualified pharmacists to improve transparency and efficiency in drug management.
The health secretary stated that appropriate action would be determined after reviewing the responses submitted by the concerned medical superintendents.