Uneven treatment

Doctors are being treated unfairly in most of Punjab with 46,000 House Officers in private and public hospitals not given the revised stipend that raises their salary from Rs24,000 to just over Rs31,000 as agreed under a clause forming a part of the doctor’s service structure which should have been effective from January 2013. The governor of Punjab announced that the stipend for House Officers should go up after periodic revision. This decision came after protests by young doctors over pay scales and other related matters. The only hospital in Punjab where the stipend has been revised is the Bahawal Victoria Hospital in Bahawalpur and the Quaid-e-Azam Medical College linked to it. Accounts departments and administrators at other hospitals seem oblivious to the need – indeed the requirement – to implement this change. The deputy secretary budget and accounts of the Department of Health, Punjab appreciated the decision taken at BVH and suggested others should also be following it. He pointed out that for private hospitals, it was not mandatory to do so but under PMDC recommendations, most chose to follow the path set out by the government.
The treatment of young doctors and the lack of adequate pay for them have in the past led to multiple problems at public sector hospitals. We have seen strikes badly affecting patients, and incidents in which doctors and police have clashed. We need to work towards improving working conditions for junior doctors – who essentially run the wards and emergency departments at hospitals. The decisions made for this in the past must not be ignored due to administrative negligence. The Punjab health department needs to step in and play an active role in ensuring the stipends are raised at all hospitals. Only when we have satisfied doctors can we hope to have satisfied patients who are offered better healthcare and better services. Right now, there is an urgent need to improve conditions at our public sector facilities. The failure to do this over many years has resulted in these hospitals reaching a state of collapse. They must be run more efficiently for the sake of the people and efforts made for this purpose need to be implemented without unnecessary delay. It is also unfortunate that so many heads of hospitals seem unaware of quite what is happening at the centres they run. This needs to be taken as a serious duty, fundamental to offering quality care to patients and also guarding the interests of those providing the care.