KP health department sacks 30 doctors over fake PMDC registration, will recover their salaries

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department has dismissed 30 doctors working in government health facilities across the province over fake registration with the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and illegal recruitment, Business Recorder reported on Thursday.

How the department reached its decision

According to the report, the department:

1. issued show-cause notices to all 30 doctors,
2. offered each of them a personal hearing,
3. reviewed their explanations, the evidence they submitted and the inquiry reports, and then
4. formally notified the dismissals.

The department has also decided to recover the salaries and other government dues paid to the 30 doctors, through legal procedures. The doctors have not been named, and the report does not list the hospitals or health units where they were posted, or say whether PMDC or any other body will take further action.

Why a PMDC registration matters

No one may practise medicine or dentistry in Pakistan without a valid PMDC licence, and every government recruitment for doctors requires it. A post filled on a false registration means patients were treated by someone whose qualifications the regulator never confirmed, and a salary paid from the provincial health budget for a job the person was not eligible to hold.

What patients can do

• Check the register. PMDC publishes a searchable register of licensed doctors and dentists on its website. Search by the doctor's name or registration number.
• Look at the prescription. A doctor's PMDC registration number is normally printed on the prescription pad or the clinic board. If it is missing, ask.
• Report doubts. Complaints about a government facility can go to the district health office; in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Health Care Commission also takes complaints about private clinics.

PMDC has been in the news for its role in admissions too: our MDCAT 2026 page tracks the test, results and inquiry, and students can work out their merit with the MDCAT aggregate calculator.