KARACHI: Doctors at Spencer's protest against EDO's action
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 24: Doctors at the Spencer Eye Hospital did not perform surgeries on Tuesday in protest against what they said inappropriate action of EDO Health.
Sources in the hospital said that during a surprise visit, EDO Health Dr Fazal Illahi Memon marked a number of doctors as absent as they had failed to sign attendance register before his arrival.
It was learnt that some doctors had reached the hospital in time on Tuesday and started examining patients around, as they used to do on other days. "Once we enter the hospital, patients demand our immediate attention and as such recording of attendance remains a secondary matter," said a senior doctor.
Another doctor said: "I pointed out to the EDO that since I had not been recorded as present on the duty there was no reason to stay further in the hospital." He said that a couple of other doctors also left the hospital in reaction to the "schoolmaster-like" attitude of the EDO.
Expressing their reservations after being marked absent by the EDO Health, the doctors also denied to carry out the routine work in the later part of the day, including the scheduled surgeries.
There were 28 operations on card for the day, which the doctors postponed in view of the harsh attitude of the EDO, sources said. When contacted, the EDO Health told Dawn that he was not aware that doctors stopped working after being marked absent for the day.
"If anybody had grievance and a show-cause was served to him he should just clarify his position," he said adding that his visit was aimed purely at improving the health care service at the hospital and relevant quarters should not depict the matter the other way.
He said: "The staff are required to report on their duties at 8.30am and stay till 3.30pm at the hospital. I marked absent against the names of about 40 staff, including 17 doctors, while there was no application for leave on the day," he added.
A lower cadre staff said that some doctors were irked because the EDO marked them absent without confirming their presence. A doctor claimed that he had examined about 15 patients by 9.45am when he came to know about the EDO's visit to the hospital and his action against the doctors.
According to APP, the EDO Health issued explanation letters and strict warning to 17 doctors and around 80 paramedics associated with the Spencer Eye Hospital for arriving late to their respective duties.
Following the EDO's visit, all 27 doctors of the hospital registering their protest refused to carry out operations for the day which caused inconvenience to patients.
The doctors claimed that they left the work in response to the fact that they had been very much in the hospital busy with patients, but, were marked absent compelling them not to take any further responsibility for the day.
Fazal Illahi said that he paid surprise visit to 127 health care units under his jurisdiction at regular intervals. "It was in the very context that I visited the eye hospital at 8:30am, the time on which doctors must join their morning duty," he said.
"To my utter surprise, I found only 10 doctors arriving at the hospital by 9:30am while others appeared after 10am," he said and claimed that after 10am he started marking those doctors absent, who failed to sign the attendance register by that time.
He maintained that any written complaint made by Medical Superintendent of Spencer Eye Hospital that doctors and other staffers had refused to realize their responsibility in reaction to explanation letters could lead to subsequent action.
A senior ophthalmologists on condition of anonymity said that many of his colleagues at the eye hospital had been serving the institution for more than 20 years. Instead of going to the Medical Superintendent's office to sign their attendance, the register was brought to them, he added.
Acknowledging that some of the doctors had been a little late to reach the hospital, the doctors refuted that they did it as a practice to evade their responsibility towards the patients. They urged the authorities concerned that their service record must not be ignored to ascertain the facts.
