SIALKOT, July 27: People are suffering due to apathy of doctors at the THQ hospital in Daska.

Relatives of three seriously-injured girls told newsmen that they were not being attended by doctors and paramedics at the hospital and were being punished for protesting against orthopedist Dr Mohammad Arshad, who had allegedly refused to treat the girls at the government hospital and advised them to visit his private clinic for “proper” treatment.

The poor family appealed to Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi to order free medical treatment of the girls at a government hospital, as their condition was getting critical by the day.

Sources said that all doctors at Daska THQ hospital were also working in private clinics and hospitals in Daska city. They had got their duty timings at the Daska civil hospital adjusted for the purpose.

The Punjab health secretary, the director-general of health and the EDO for health had never visited the THQ civil hospital or tried to know patients’ grievances, they alleged.

The social circles have expressed concern over this situation and demanded a radical change in hospital’s management in the larger interest of people.

In these circumstances, the district government’s announcement that a Rs20 million “trauma centre” would be established at this hospital, sounds ironical to say the least.