‘Harassment’ by PPP activist: DHQ Timergara employees, doctors observe strike

TIMERGARA: All doctors, paramedics and class-IV employees at District Headquarters (DHQ) hospital here on Saturday observed strike and boycotted the outpatients departments (OPD) against alleged harassment and inciting of public against hospital administration by the worker of a political party.

The doctors also kept their private clinics closed and only emergency cover was provided to patients at the DHQ hospital.

President Doctors’ Association, Lower Dir, Dr Nadir Khan and president Young Doctors Association, Lower Dir, Dr Waheedullah said that playing politics over a dead body by Alamzeb Advocate, a district councillor, was lamentable.

They alleged that Alamzeb Advocate resorted to incite public against doctors just to politicise the issue of a boy’s death in the hospital emergency unit on Friday evening.

“Doctors in Swat and Peshawar had termed disease of the baby boy who had developed a hole in his heart as fatal and the doctors had sent him back home,” said Dr Nadir, and added that district councillor and PPP local leader Alamzeb tried to harass the doctors at the DHQ hospital and to provoke public.

Deputy Commissioner Sarmad Saleem Akram and District Nazim Malik Muhammad Rasool Khan reached the DHQ hospital and held negotiations with the doctors.

The doctors said that the boycott would continue till the registration of first information report (FIR) against the political worker.

The deputy commissioner and district nazim assured them that a thorough investigation would be conducted into the matter and action would be initiated against those found guilty.

It is worth mentioning here that one Musa Khan, a resident of Bajaur Agency, on Friday alleged that his eight-month-old son died of doctor’s negligence at DHQ hospital Timergara. He alleged that the doctor was busy talking on his cell-phone for long and did not attend the patient.

Later, the district councillor and PPP local leader Alamzeb reached the spot and blocked Dir-Timergara road in protest against doctors’ alleged negligence.

However, talking to reporters, Medical Superintendent (MS) DHQ Timergara Dr Anwar Zada rejected the allegations and clarified that the baby was provided with in time treatment but his life could not be saved despite efforts by doctors.