LAHORE: Patients and their relatives saw a ray of hope when out-patient department (OPDs) started to work after Pakistan Army doctors reached different hospitals across Punjab to treat patients in place of young doctors Monday morning, Geo News reported.
Army doctors along with other senior doctors have started treating the patients at Mayo and Services Hospital in Lahore, however, the arrangements appear insufficient as compared to the serious situation emerged due to young doctors’ strike that has entered its fourteenth day.
Overwhelming number of patients is being witnessed at different hospitals while emergency wards are already under tremendous work pressure.
Young doctors are still on strike in Rawalpindi, therefore, the Army doctors have reached at various hospitals including Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Holy Family and DHQ Hospital to look after the patients in OPDs.
Police contingents have also been deployed to control any unpleasant situation.
Doctors in uniform are also discharging duties in various hospitals of Multan and Bahawalpur along with the other senior doctors.
The step to call Army doctors was taken after five patients lost lives across Punjab when the doctors on duty deliberately left them in the lurch to show solidarity with Young Doctors Association (YDA) leaders arrested in Lahore.
Four patients including a minor girl and a woman died of negligence on part of young doctors, who were busy staging a strike in the wake of a crackdown on YDA members instead of looking after the critical ones in Faisalabad's Allied Hospital.
Whereas a baby also died in Lahore as no doctor was around to take care of it.
Dozens of doctors were also arrested after Punjab police stormed into the Services Hospital Lahore at a time when the protesting doctors' emergency meeting was underway.
Meanwhile, services of twenty-four doctors who actively participated in the strike were terminated.
Earlier, Punjab Health Department announced to blacklist the candidature of all the doctors on strike for government jobs if they didn't end strike and resume their duties from today.