How to File a Medical Negligence Complaint With the Punjab Healthcare Commission

To bring a medical negligence complaint in Punjab, send the Punjab Healthcare Commission a written complaint with a notarised affidavit, within sixty days of the date you learned about it. The Commission can fine the hospital and act on its licence. It does not pay you compensation, and the law blocks a separate civil suit over the same facts.

A family sees a wrong diagnosis, a botched procedure, or a ward that never had the equipment it advertised, and the first question is always the same: who deals with this, and what do they actually get out of it. Punjab's answer is the Punjab Healthcare Commission, set up under the Punjab Healthcare Commission Act 2010. We read its Act and its own complaint pages on 4 October 2026 to answer the second half of that question, the part most coverage skips.

Medical negligence is a narrow legal test, not a bad outcome

Under section 19 of the Act, a provider is negligent only if the establishment lacked the staff or equipment it claimed to have, or if the skill it did have was not used with reasonable competence. A known complication of treatment is not negligence on its own.

That test, and how to read it, is the subject of the general complaint rules for any hospital or clinic in Punjab, which also covers registration, licensing and the appeal route in full. This article goes further into what a proven negligence finding actually produces, because that part is where expectations and the law pull apart.

You file the complaint on PHC's own portal, not just by letter

PHC's complaint FAQ confirms the sixty day deadline runs from when you knew, not from the treatment date, and a complaint filed late is time barred. It also runs its own online system, separate from a plain postal complaint.

1. Write what happened, when, and who was involved, including any attempt you made to resolve it with the hospital.
2. Get your affidavit notarised and sign it, or add your thumb impression, because PHC does not accept anonymous complaints.
3. Attach your CNIC, medical records, receipts and any letters exchanged with the hospital, scanned copies are accepted.
4. File through PHC's online patient complaint form, or send the papers by post or by hand.
5. Keep the registration number PHC issues, since the case is tracked against it through every stage.

PHC's FAQ says filing costs nothing. After registration, PHC checks whether the complaint is maintainable, assigns a case worker, asks the hospital to reply, records evidence with a chance to cross-examine, and may bring in an expert opinion before a decision. A provider unhappy with the outcome can appeal to the District and Sessions Court.

PHC can fine the hospital, and act on its licence, nothing more

Section 28 of the Act lets PHC fine a provider found guilty of a contravention up to five hundred thousand rupees, once it has given a hearing. Registration and licensing duties sit under sections 13 and 14, with the same maximum fine for operating without either.

Nowhere in the Act, and nowhere on PHC's own complaint pages, is there a line that says the fine is paid to the patient. The penalty is a regulatory one, aimed at the provider's conduct, not a damages award.

A civil court cannot hear the same case again

Section 29 of the Act says no suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding related to healthcare services lies against a provider except under this Act. We read a reported court decision on this exact section, where a claimant's separate civil suit for the same facts was dismissed, with the court holding that the Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over a cause of action arising after the Act took effect in August 2010, and directing the claimant to file before PHC instead.

So the ordinary route a family expects, suing a hospital in civil court for damages, is closed for the kind of harm this Act covers. PHC is not an extra option alongside a lawsuit. For most patients in Punjab, it is the only forum, which is why families already carrying a large hospital bill often end up chasing help with treatment costs on a separate track from the complaint itself.

A doctor's own licence needs a separate complaint to PMDC

PHC's proceedings are against the establishment and the service it ran, not the forum for cancelling one doctor's personal right to practise. That sits with the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, the body that issues and polices registration.

Check the doctor's PMDC registration before you decide where to send your complaint, because a negligent but registered doctor and an unregistered one are two different problems with two different complaints. PMDC runs its own online complaints system for professional negligence or misconduct, filed separately from anything you send to PHC. Filing with one does not file with the other.

Evidence that actually moves a negligence case

Most complaints argue the harder half of section 19, that a clinical decision was wrong, which usually needs an outside expert's opinion and takes time.

The easier half is a fact about the building, not a judgment call: did the establishment have the staff and equipment it claimed. A discharge paper listing a specialist who never saw the patient, or a ward billed as intensive care without the machines for it, is evidence a case worker can check directly, and it is worth leading with.

Where to send it, and what it costs you

PHC's FAQ states plainly that it does not cost anything to file a complaint. Your own cost is the notary fee for the affidavit, nothing the Act or PHC charges you.

Common questions

Will PHC pay me compensation for medical negligence?

No. Neither the Act nor PHC's own complaint pages describe a payment to the patient. Its penalties are fines on the provider, not damages for you.

Can I sue the hospital in civil court instead of filing with PHC?

Generally no. Section 29 bars other legal proceedings over the same healthcare service, and a reported court ruling has dismissed a parallel civil suit on that basis, directing the claimant to PHC.

How long do I have to file a negligence complaint?

Sixty days from the date you came to know of the problem, under section 23. PHC treats a later complaint as time barred.

Can I file anonymously if I am afraid of the hospital?

No. PHC does not entertain anonymous or pseudonymous complaints, and your name is shared with the establishment, though proceedings stay confidential between the parties.

Does PHC also handle the doctor's personal licence?

No. That is a separate complaint to PMDC. PHC's case is against the establishment, not the individual practitioner's registration.

Is there a fee to file with the Punjab Healthcare Commission?

No. PHC's complaint FAQ says filing costs nothing. You only pay for notarising your affidavit.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked 4 October 2026. The sixty day deadline, the written complaint and affidavit requirement, the bar on anonymous complaints, the no cost to file, the registration number, maintainability check, case worker, cross-examination, expert opinion, appeal to the District and Sessions Court, and the Lahore address, phone, toll free number and email are read on PHC's own complaint FAQ at os.phc.org.pk. Section 19's negligence test, section 23's deadline, section 28's fines on a provider and on a false complainant, and section 29's bar on other proceedings are read in the Punjab Healthcare Commission Act 2010. The dismissal of a parallel civil suit under section 29 is from a reported court decision on that section; we read a summary of the judgment rather than filing anything ourselves, and PHC's own pages do not state where a fine is applied once collected. PMDC's separate complaints system for a doctor's own registration is confirmed on PMDC's own site. Nothing here is legal advice or medical advice.