Family manhandles doctor over minor’s death

LAHORE:The family members shocked by the death of a one-year-old girl in the Children's Hospital allegedly manhandled the duty doctor and seriously injured him.

A one-year-old girl admitted to the medical ward could not survive despite the efforts of the doctors. The relatives ransacked the hospital and tortured the duty doctor with slaps, kicks and punches. The doctor was seriously injured. The family members also abused the lady doctors and nursing staff. The doctors stopped the treatment in the hospital and closed the OPD. They staged a protest on Ferozepur Road and demanded that legal action be taken against those who had tortured the hospital staff.

Naseerabad police arrested five accused involved in the violence and registered a case against them. Later, in a press conference held at hospital premises on Wednesday, YDA, Punjab, demanded the dismissal of security in-charge or his failure to ensure security of the doctors and staff.Fakhar Zaman, the lawyer of the family members said that the family had requested the doctors for a check-up of the child patients, whose condition was deteriorating. The child patient, Rabil, expired due to lack of treatment.Later, YDA, Punjab, Insaf Doctors Forum (IDF), and Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), in a joint statement, demanded that legislation for the security and doctors and other hospital staff must be passed urgently. The provisions of terrorism should be imposed on the accused of violence against the doctors. “If doctors' protection bill is not passed within 48 hours, the outdoor services of all hospitals in Punjab will be closed,” they added.

They alleged that the government was busy in transfers and postings of doctors, while no recruitment had been made. “There is acute shortage of doctors in the hospitals therefore it is not possible for doctors to manage dozens of critical patients,” they said, urging the government to make fresh recruitments to provide relief to the overworked doctors. The YDA CHL chapter announced that the outdoor services of the Children's Hospital will be boycotted on Thursday (today).