14 Infants Died: Why Did PIMS’s Safety Net Fail?
News Desk
Islamabad: The deaths of 14 infants in the PIMS nursery fire have prompted a broader accountability debate in the National Assembly, with lawmakers questioning not only those directly linked to the incident but also the hospital’s safety systems, regulatory oversight and administrative structure.
The National Assembly Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination on Monday rejected the preliminary findings of the inquiry into the tragedy, saying significant questions remained unanswered about how a fire was able to spread through a highly sensitive neonatal facility.
Committee Chairman Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani said the investigation should establish why adequate safeguards failed before the fire occurred, rather than focusing solely on the response after the blaze broke out.
Lawmakers questioned the availability and functioning of fire alarms, sprinklers, electrical installations, oxygen systems, air-conditioning equipment and biomedical machinery. They also raised concerns over emergency preparedness, staff training and the apparent lack of effective fire drills.
Conflicting accounts about the possible cause of the fire further added to the committee’s concerns. Members noted that one account attributed the incident to a possible spark from an air-conditioner, while another suggested the equipment was not operational.
They questioned why portable air-conditioners were being used in a critical nursery and whether electrical and medical equipment had been routinely inspected.
The committee has sought CCTV footage, inspection records, fire-safety audits, biomedical equipment records, emergency training details and information on the circumstances surrounding the deaths of each of the 14 infants.
It also ordered officials to provide records from the past five years concerning the procurement, installation, maintenance and expenditure on fire-safety systems at PIMS.
Who was supposed to ensure PIMS was safe?
The committee’s scrutiny has also brought the Islamabad Healthcare Regulatory Authority (IHRA) under the spotlight.
Members questioned whether the regulator had adequately carried out its statutory responsibility to inspect healthcare facilities and enforce minimum safety standards. They asked when PIMS was last comprehensively inspected and whether violations identified during previous inspections had been addressed.
Questions were also raised about the composition and legal status of the IHRA Regulatory Board, as well as concerns surrounding possible conflicts of interest and the appointment of its chief executive.
IHRA officials have been summoned to explain the authority’s inspection history, safety assessments and enforcement measures.
Eight officials identified, but what happened next?
Lawmakers also challenged the follow-up to the inquiry ordered by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The health ministry told the committee that it had not launched a separate investigation because the prime minister had already established an inquiry committee shortly after the incident. Committee members questioned whether this was sufficient and argued that the ministry still had a responsibility to independently examine the findings and implement recommendations falling under its authority.
The committee was informed that eight individuals had been identified in connection with the incident and that a letter had been sent to the Interior Ministry seeking criminal proceedings.
Members, however, demanded a clear account of the action taken against each person and the basis on which responsibility had been determined. They also questioned the legal and administrative appropriateness of using retired officials to investigate the conduct of serving officers.
The relevant Law Division has been asked to provide its opinion on the legal position regarding criminal proceedings.
Administrative overload raises questions
The committee also turned its attention to the way PIMS is managed, questioning the practice of assigning multiple additional responsibilities to individual officials.
Members said reports that one officer was holding as many as nine additional charges raised serious concerns about whether critical hospital functions could be effectively supervised under such an arrangement.
Officials have been asked to provide details of all additional charges, the reasons behind their allocation and the criteria used to make such appointments.
The committee also questioned whether the newly appointed Executive Director of PIMS had the institutional and administrative experience necessary to manage one of the capital’s largest tertiary-care hospitals.
The health minister acknowledged that the hospital faced deep-rooted problems and said PIMS required radical restructuring, indicating that replacing one senior official alone would not resolve its wider governance challenges.
Fire safety concerns extend beyond PIMS
The committee warned that the incident should not be treated as an isolated failure at one hospital.
It called for independent third-party fire, clinical, performance and safety audits across healthcare facilities in Islamabad Capital Territory, including an urgent assessment of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences and Polyclinic.
Lawmakers also raised broader concerns about shortages of doctors and other healthcare workers, limited specialist services, patient-management problems and allegations that some patients were being directed toward private clinics.
The committee expressed concern over the absence of the Islamabad Commissioner/Chairman CDA from the meeting and decided to summon him, members of the prime minister’s inquiry committee and the eight individuals named in the interim report at its next sitting.
For the lawmakers, the PIMS fire has therefore become a test of whether Pakistan’s public healthcare system can move beyond post-tragedy investigations toward preventive accountability.
The committee stressed that establishing responsibility was necessary, but said the ultimate objective should be preventing another family from losing a child because basic safety and emergency systems failed.
“How can the next child be saved?” remains the central question the committee says must guide the investigation and proposed reforms.
