KARACHI: The National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Karachi, recently terminated three of its employees over taking bribes from patients and their attendants.
A spokesperson for NICVD said that three employees caught accepting bribes from patients were suspended on October 1, 2021. On October 8, 2021, a seven-member committee was formed to investigate the matter following the suspension of employees.
"If the employees were fired immediately without inquiry, they would have gone to court, so the company has fired the employees involved in the case on October 11, 2021 after fulfilling all the legal requirements." the spokesperson clarified.
"A new system had been introduced in the NICVD to prevent such incidents, after which we hope such morally depraved action will not occur in the future. Such bribe-takers have no place in the NICVD, as the NICVD is a responsible body that believes in serving patients.
The services of NICVD, an organization that provides free treatment to patients coming from all over the country, cannot be ignored because of such few employees." the spokesperson concluded.
NICVD receives patients from all over the country. These patients are provided with free-of-cost treatment and usage of facilities without any discrimination. In 2019-2020 alone, 3.8 million patients were provided free treatment, including cardiac surgeries like Primary Percutaneous Coronary Interventions (PCI) and Reciprocal Procedures.