Patients turn and toss as doctors’ strike enters second day

Show-cause notices to 15 doctors in LRH, services of 4 head nurses returned to Health Department, action taken against 8 paramedics in KTH

PESHAWAR: Patients continued to suffer as the protesting doctors and health workers kept health services suspended for second consecutive day in the three tertiary care hospitals here on Wednesday.

Frustrated by the stiff attitude of the protesting health workers, the government in consultations with legal experts and medical directors and hospital directors of the tertiary care hospitals decided to take action against the protesting doctors, paramedics, nursing staff and sanitation workers as per law if they didn’t restore services in their respective health institutions from Thursday.

The Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) administration had issued show-cause notices to 15 doctors and returned services of four more head nurses to the provincial Health Department for further posting.

The health workers had been on strike on the call of Health Employees Coordination Council (HEEC) of LRH, Young Doctors Association (YDA), a two-member Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) in the province, Malgari Doctoran of the Awami National Party, Islamic Doctors Forum (IDF) affiliated with Maulana Fazlur Rahman’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, All Pakistan Clerks Association (APCA) and the Paramedics Associations.

The mainstream doctors associations, including Provincial Doctors Association (PDA), Insaf Doctors Forum (IDF), Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA), Medical Officers Association, and IT staff, nursing staff, maintenance and clerical staff at KTH and HMC had distanced themselves from the protest and performed duties as usual on Wednesday.

Since majority leaders and office-bearers of different associations of doctors and other workers have been serving at the LRH, therefore they succeeded in disrupting services there.Though Hospital Director Col (r) Dr Hamid Saeedul Haq and Medical Director Dr Aamir Ghafoor remained present at the sprawling OPD Block to encourage and facilitate doctors and health workers in providing services, majority of the hospital employees remained absent from their duties.

The sprawling three-storey OPD Block as usual wore a deserted look due to strike of the health workers and the patients came from Peshawar city and remote areas suffered for second day.

Except a few doctors, some of them professors, the majority didn’t attend OPDs and remained absent from providing services at the operation theatres, radiology and pathology departments.

Talking to reporters, the hospital director and medical director said they had initiated disciplinary action against the protesting health workers under Medical Teaching Institutions Act 2015 and Essential Services Maintenance Act, implemented in all the government-run health institutions of the province on the directive of Peshawar High Court.

Dr Hamid Saeedul Haq said they had already returned services of the protesting employees to the Health Directorate for further posting.He said he believed in dialogue and would keep his doors always open if the hospital employees wanted to sit with him in connection with resolution of their genuine problems.

Dr Hamid Saeedul Haq denied privatisation of the hospital and said the provincial government had provided them Rs744 million for upgradation of services and patient care. He said all the indoor patients would be provided free medicines by the hospital.

Dr Aamir Ghafoor said he had issued show-cause notices to the doctors for not providing services to the patients.He said he had issued show- cause notices to 15 doctors for not providing services. He said the doctors are supposed to submit their reply within three to seven days.

Dr Aamir Ghafoor said they had a plan for installation of 40 tables in the main operation theater and seven ICUs in the under-construction 11 storey Medical and Surgical Block that would further upgrade patient care at LRH. As compared to LRH, the situation at the 1200-beded Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) and Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) remained satisfactory.There was almost no strike at the HMC where the hospital administration had made better arrangements to counter the strike of the doctors.

Some employees of the Postgraduate Medical Institute (PGMI) from LRH and Institute of Kidney Disease (IKD) had tried to disrupt health services but they couldn’t succeed as Medical Director Prof Dr Noor Wazir and Hospital Director Prof Dr Shehzad Akbar as usual developed better coordination with the hospital employees and provided services to indoor and outdoor patients.

The patients didn’t suffer there as right from OPDs to pathology and radiology services, the operation theaters remained functional. Also in KTH, the hospital administration managed to ensure doctors presence in OPDs and provided services in other departments.

Medical Director Prof Dr Nadim Khawar along with Hospital Director Dr Farman Ali had defused the strike, though a group of paramedics staged protest demonstration in middle of the hospital coordinator and disrupted services in OPDs.

Later, they restored services.

Except the orthopedic unit, a senior official said all doctors of other specialties attended OPDs and OTs.

Prof Nadim Khawar said he was satisfied with the doctors for providing services but took action against eight paramedics and returned their services to the Health Department. Also, he said they had suspended services of sanitation workers for their failure to perform duties.