ISLAMABAD: Shamim travelled all the way from Swabi on Monday in order to get her son’s fractured arm treated at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) only to find the outpatient department (OPD) closed due to a doctors strike.

“My son, Habibullah fell from his motorcycle and broke his arm. The doctors in Swabi put on a plaster but for two weeks now, he has been experiencing pain in his arm and he says the skin under the plaster burns,” Shamim told Dawn.

She said they had come all the way to Pims as it is a good hospital and she wanted quality treatment for her son.

“But here I find that the doctors are on strike and that we will have to come back another day,” she said, adding that she will now have to take her son to another hospital.

Doctors to continue strike till hospital is separated from medical university

A large number of patients had to go back without being treated due to the doctor’s strike on Monday.

A resident of the federal capital, Saeed Ahmed said he also had to go back without receiving medical treatment.

“It is not right for doctors and hospital staff to hold a strike and let patients suffer. I have never heard of strikes in private hospitals because they know their services will then be terminated, but doctors and staff in government hospitals never come to the hospital anyways,” he said.

On August 15, the chairman of the Pims Restoration Movement Dr Asfandyar Khan had in a press conference announced that hospital’s OPD department will be closed from August 22 and will remain closed till the hospital is separated from the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University. He said the merger of the hospital with the university was causing doctors and staff financial losses and delays in promotions as they were now considered employees of an autonomous body. He had said the strike will continue till the issue is addressed.

Talking to Dawn, Dr Khan said the protesting doctors did not want to create problems for patients and had only wanted to hold a “peaceful’ protest.

“However, Pims Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Akram called the police in the morning which annoyed doctors and they decided to not deliver any of their services at all. The situation was further aggravated with the security in charge Malik Safdar was beaten by the vice chancellor. We have decided that we will keep on protesting till our demands are met,” he said.

Dr Khan said he had told the vice chancellor that the security staff only had keys to the main doors and that the keys to the clinics were with other staff and doctors. Because peons and other staff were also on strike, he said, the doors to the clinics were not opened due to which patients were turned away without being administered treatment.

“The vice chancellor later called me in and apologised to me,” he said.

When asked about the incident, the Pims vice chancellor said he pushed the security in charge out of the way and called the police when he had seen the doors locked.

“I wanted services to patients to be resumed because patients should not be ignored. Some of the doctors listened to me, came with me to the OPD and we started treating patients. The same happened in the children’s hospital when some doctors headed by Dr Amjad Mehboob started working in the OPD. We will do the same again if the strike continues,” he vowed.

A doctor at the hospital, Dr Waseem Khawaja said the issue was very sensitive as it affected people’s health.

“The prime minister should intervene in the matter or the 10,000 patients who are treated daily at the hospital will be the ones to suffer,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2016