Nurses boycott duties all over KP

PESHAWAR: The nursing staff from all over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday boycotted duties and staged a sit-in at the provincial assembly chowk to press for acceptance of their demands.

The nurses, on the call of the Young Nursing Association, had initially planned to carry out a protest and lodge a protest against the government and particularly the Health Department for not listening to their genuine demands.

They complained that the future of nursing staff had been made uncertain in the medical teaching institutions (MTIs), saying thousands of nurses had been serving in MTIs on fixed pay and contracts.

The protesting nurses demanded a proper service structure at the public sector hospitals, particularly in the MTIs, and protection for nurses working as civil servants. Despite the fact that they had been contributing to the health delivery services and providing quality services to patients, they complained the government had never acknowledged their work and resolved their genuine problems.

According to the nurses, they had no idea of staging a sit-in and planned a protest walk to raise their long-awaited issues.

They decided to stage a sit-in after the government, and particularly the Health Department didn’t bother to pay attention to their genuine demands.

They expressed concern over the Healthcare Facilities Management Bill 2022 and rejected it.

The protesting nurses decided to continue their protest against declaring nursing colleges as part of the MTIs.

They said 481 nurses had been recruited under the AIP scheme but their appointment orders were yet to be issued, causing mental stress to the selected applicants.

According to them, the public sector hospitals still lacked the nursing staff, demanding the government to fill out the vacant positions to ensure better nursing care to patients.