Young doctors hold protests in Lahore

Post graduation policy

LAHORE: The Young Doctors Association (YDA), Punjab, has launched a protest movement across the Punjab on Wednesday by blocking major thoroughfares in all districts of Punjab against the health department’s Central Induction Policy for post graduation.

Despite hectic efforts of Punjab Specialized Health Care and Medical Education Department to engage them in a meaningful dialogue, especially during the past few weeks, the young doctors remained adamant and punished patients in hospitals and general public on roads. The YDA’s blackmailing tactics through boycott of duties in hospitals and blocking of roads exposed its hypocrisy when it speaks of the rights of patients and at the same time cripples the health delivery system at the cost of poor patients’ health.

Earlier in the day, the young doctors of Mayo Hospital, Lady Wellington Hospital, Lady Aitchison Hospital blocked The Mall by holding a protest at the Faisal Chowk in front of the Punjab Assembly, young doctors from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital blocked Queen’s Road, young doctors from de’Montmorency College of Dentistry/Punjab Dental Hospital blocked Ravi Road, young doctors of Services Hospital and Punjab Institute of Cardiology blocked Jail Road, young doctors from Children’s Hospital and Lahore General Hospital blocked Ferozepur Road, while young doctors from Shaikh Zayed Hospital and Jinnah Hospital held a protest march on the Canal Road, which virtually crippled the traffic flow and caused tremendous problems for commuters on the roads. The YDA’s protest movement kept the roads closed in Lahore from 10am till 2pm, while young doctors also held a strike and blocked the roads in Faisalabad, Multan, Gujrat, Rawalpindi, DG Khan, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Sargodha and other major cities in the province.

The young doctors were carrying banners and placards inscribed with their demands and chanting slogans against the government for introducing the Central Induction Policy for post graduation.

The young doctors’ strike caused a great deal of problems for the patients in hospitals as healthcare services in OPDs indoor wards remained partially suspended and minor operations were postponed. The poor patients, who had come from far-off districts, were the worst affected as they had incurred a lot of expenses only to get disappointment over denial of treatment in public sector hospitals of Lahore.

Besides, the closure of roads created massive inconvenience for the people, who remained stuck in traffic for hours, consumed a lot of fuel and reached late on their destinations in hot and humid weather.

Besides, a lot of ambulances were also seen stuck in traffic and found it extremely difficult to make their way to emergencies of nearby hospitals in Lahore, which endangered the lives of the serious patients.

The YDA leaders, however, had claimed that young doctors didn’t hold a strike or disrupt the healthcare services in hospitals as majority of doctors’ strength continued to provide healthcare services to the patients in emergency, indoor and outdoor wards of their respective hospitals. They claimed that doctors were performing duties in hospitals as usual as no operations were postponed. However, it proved to be a hollow promise as patients were seen running from pillar to post get the required treatment.

The leadership of YDA, Punjab, while delivering their speeches during the protest rallies, vehemently rejected Central Induction Policy, claiming that it would not just destroy but collapse the medical profession. They observed that Punjab government was providing only 400 Post Graduate Residents (PGRs) seats in whole Punjab, adding that there were no seats of doctors in hospitals of Lahore in the fields of Medicine, Cardiology, Oncology, Gynaecology/Obstetrics, Orthopaedics/Trauma specialist, Dentist, Gastroenterology and many other fields. They observed that, in a small province like KPK, around 1,200 doctors have got post-graduation inductions during the current month in addition to the seats awarded in January earlier this year.

They believed that this central induction policy will leave no option for doctors except to leave Pakistan as out of 10,000 graduates only 400 doctors will get chance of specialization/higher education. While in all countries, they said, the governments facilitates doctors for higher education and no doctor is deprived of specialization in those countries and even foreign doctors also get the opportunity to do specialization.

While rejecting the Central Induction Policy, the young doctors warned the government that if it tried to impose this policy on doctors then OPDs and operations theatres would be closed too.