Patients suffering badly as young doctors continue strike for 4th day at BBH

Rawalpindi
Hundreds of patients have been suffering badly here at the outpatients department of Benazir Bhutto Hospital because of a strike being observed by the young doctors for the last four days on the call of Young Doctors Association Punjab.
The young doctors observed strike at the BBH OPD on Friday from 11 O’clock in the morning to 2 O’clock in afternoon like the past three days. Terming the strike successful and effective, the YDA BBH Chapter alleged that the Punjab government has been giving a deaf ear to the demands of the YDA Punjab.
The YDA is demanding the government to provide foolproof security to the doctors and staff within the premises of the hospitals across province. The YDA Punjab has announced daily strike from 11:00 a.m. onwards in OPDs of the teaching hospitals as a protest to the brutal killing of an executive member of YDA and a neurosurgeon at Nishtar Hospital in Multan Dr. Samiullah and attack on Cardiologist at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Dr. Shahid Nawaz Malik who died at PIMS on Friday.
The YDA BBH is observing a token strike, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. but the government has not taken the matter seriously as yet, said YDA BBH Information Secretary Dr. Waqas Ilyas while talking to ‘The News’ on Friday.
He added that the YDA may go on full-day strike at the OPDs of teaching hospitals across province but it is reluctant in doing so because the young doctors do not want innocent patients to suffer.
Talking of the poor security situation at the allied hospitals in town, he said that on Tuesday evening, there occurred an incident of shooting in the premises of District Headquarters Hospital right in front of the emergency department leaving at least six people injured.
Also a post operative medicolegal patient was tortured and beaten in the surgical unit of Benazir Bhutto Hospital on Tuesday night by the opposite group, he said. The two incidents have further exposed the poor security systems at the allied hospitals showing that the government has not yet taken any steps to improve security at the allied hospitals.
He added that the YDA has decided to continue strike in OPDs across Punjab until an immaculate security system is provided in the premises of all healthcare facilities operating under Punjab government.
To a query, Dr. Waqas said that all the junior and senior doctors at BBH voluntarily left their OPD stations at 11:00 a.m. on Friday. The young doctors at the DHQ Hospital have also joined hands with the YDA BBH and have started token strike in OPD however, the young doctors at Holy Family Hospital have not yet observed any strike, he added.