KP govt moves to keep protesters away from hospitals

Healthcare declared essential service; doctors, paramedics threaten to suspend services at three main hospitals; mainstream associations dissociate from strike call

PESHAWAR: To counter the proposed protest of health workers in public sector hospitals, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Monday declared healthcare as an essential service under the Essential Services Maintenance Act 1958 and decided to deal with violators as per the law.

Provincial Health Minister Shahram Khan Tarakai made this announcement during a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club.The minister said the Essential Services (Maintenance) Act 1958 had been implemented in all the public sector health institutions across the province on the directives of the Peshawar High Court (PHC).

He said protests and strikes by the healthcare providers in the public sector medical and teaching institutions would be considered illegal and action would be taken against the violators under the Essential Services Act 1958.

He said the government wanted to provide better and uninterrupted health services to patients without any discrimination and, therefore, it would not allow anyone to deprive patients of their rights.

The health minister said though some people were trying to make the government use force against them and create a law and order issue, the government was aware of their nefarious designs and would not resort to using force during protest.

“As the majority of doctors and health workers have rejected the strike call of a group of doctors, they would utilise all available resources to facilitate them to provide services to the patients.”

The government on Monday issued an office order. It said: “In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 4 of the West Pakistan Essential Services (Maintenance) Act 1958, the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is pleased to direct all persons working or engaged in the medical teaching institutions established under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Teaching Institutions Act 2015 or to all the medical teaching institutions to which the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa MTI Act has been applied, or persons working in any other health facility imparting services in the public sector including administrative, curative, rehabilitative, preventive, and supportive services, partially or fully funded from the general exchequer and are under direct or indirect control of government shall not leave their place of duty without prior permission of the competent authority and shall not abandon or discontinue the official duties in the best public interest for a period of three months, from the date of issuance of this order and any employee found to have violated this order shall be subject to criminal prosecution under the West Pakistan Essential Services (Maintenance) Act 1958.”

It added that in 2010, the PHC had taken notice of frequent strikes and protests by doctors and health workers at the public sector hospitals and issued orders and observed that “the services of medical professionals, doctors, paramedics, nursing staff and other health employees of the public sector hospitals shall be declared essential services and necessary amendments be made in the West Pakistan Essential Services (Amendment)Act 1958 or the government may, by notification to be published in the official gazette, carry forward the above object because of the provision of Section 4 of the said Act.”

In 2012, the coalition government of Awami National Party and Pakistan People’s Party had notified the Act but didn’t implement it.

Meanwhile, the administration of Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) notified and implemented the Act with immediate effect.

They directed all institutional employees, including heads of departments, in-charge of units, medical officers, senior medical officers, resident medical officers, principal medical officers, and administration, class-II, class-IV, maintenance, clerical and nursing staff that all activities of their associations have been suspended and made defunct in the institutions.

Through the notifications, the administration of these hospitals informed the staff members not to act on the strike call of the Young Doctors Association (YDA) and Health Employees Coordination Council (HECC). They were directed to ensure their presence in workplaces during duty hours for effective and efficient patient care. The employees were given the assurance of full security during the duty hours.

Meanwhile, undeterred by implementation of the Essential Services (Maintenance) Act 1958, some of the doctors and healthcare workers announced to start their protest on Tuesday and suspend the health services at the three tertiary care public sector hospitals in Peshawar to force the government to accept their four demands.

The HECC and some doctors’ forums announced the protest and threatened to prolong their strike if the government didn’t hold talks with them.

However, some of the mainstream doctors associations, including Provincial Doctors Association (PDA), Insaf Doctors Forum (IDF), Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA), Medical Officers Association, and IT, nursing and maintenance and clerical staff dissociated from the strike call and decided to provide services to patients in their respective hospitals.

Prof Dr Musa Kalim, president HECC, told ‘The News’ that they would suspend health services at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC).

He said they would prolong the strike in these three medical and teaching institutions if the government didn’t accept their four demands.

Kalim said they were aware of the government’s notification declaring healthcare as Essential Services (Maintenance) Act 1958, adding the government was desperate as similar notification has been issued almost a week ago.

“They cannot scare us with these tactics. We are fighting peacefully for our genuine rights,” he said.The LRH administration has already issued show-cause notices to 106 doctors and other employees for suspending health services at the hospital last week.

Besides Dr Kalim, Pakistan Medical Association’s Dr Hussain Ahmad Haroon, Malgari Doctoran’s Dr Saeedur Rahman, Young Doctors Association’s patron-in-chief Dr Alamgir Yousafzai, Islamic Doctors Forum (IDF), APCA’s provincial president Mohamamd Aslam Khan, Paramedics Association’s Syed Roedar Shah and Sirajuddin Burki announced the strike.

They expressed resentment over the show-cause notices served on health employees and termed it victimisation of the workers fighting for their rights.YDA President Dr Yousafzai said they would arrange OPDs in tents at the LRH and KTH but would also organise a ‘grand demonstration’ at the HMC today. He said there would be no work in these hospitals, adding they would suspend services in the operation theatres and pathology and radiology units.

In the HMC, he said, they would suspend all types of services, apparently to show their strength as during their previous strike they had miserably failed to get support from medics there.

He said they wanted the government to withdraw the notification about dissolution of Postgraduate Medical Institute (PGMI), suspend notification about Essential Services (Maintenance) Act 1958 or provide them the same perks and privileges offered to armed forces, reduce working hours or pay them as per international labour laws and provide health professional allowance to the employees.

Meanwhile, Dr Liaqat Ali, former president Pakistan Doctors Association (PDA), lamented what he called double standards of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan about employees’ associations.

In a statement, he said Imran Khan had opposed the Essential Services (Maintenance) Act 1958 implemented by the federal government on PIA employees but his PTI government notified the same law in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa against the health employees.

“I don’t understand these double standards of the PTI leader. If Essential Services (Maintenance) Act 1958 was not good for the PIA workers, then how did he choose it for the health workers in the KP who are also fighting for their rights,” Dr Liaqat Ali said.