RAWALPINDI: After a two-day break, young doctors on Saturday again observed a strike and refused to see patients at the outdoor patient departments (OPDs) of the three government hospitals in the city.

The doctors are demanding registration of a case against Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) officials for manhandling doctors at the Services Hospital in Lahore.

However, during the strike the Rawalpindi Medical College (RMC) deputed 105 newly-recruited medical officers at the OPDs of the hospitals.

On Wednesday, the Young Doctors Association (YDA) had given a two-day deadline to the Punjab government to register a case against the ACE officials involved in a clash with doctors of the Services Hospital. The clash occurred when the ACE officials visited the hospital to arrest senior office-bearers of the YDA for their alleged involvement in a corruption case.

On Saturday, the young doctors shut down healthcare services at the OPD of Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH). A partial strike was observed at the Holy Family Hospital (HFH) and the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital. However, emergency units of all the hospitals remained open.

‘Strike will continue till Punjab govt registers a case against ACE officials for manhandling doctors in Lahore’

But the DHQ hospital administration failed to guide patients about the availability of medical officers at the OPD. As a result, most of the patients went back after hearing about the strike.

At the BBH, the administration resumed the OPD services after two hours on Saturday morning. In the meanwhile, however, the patients had to shuttle between the emergency and the OPD.

At the emergency department, officials refused to issue tokens to the patients and sent them to the OPD. “It is almost impossible to get treatment in government hospitals as doctors want us to go to private clinics,” said Mohammad Rafiq, a patient at the BBH.

Mohammad Khan, a kidney patient, said he visited the DHQ hospital for a check-up but no doctor was available there. “The DHQ hospital officials asked me to go to any private hospital or the HFH, saying the strike would continue for a few more days,” he said.

PTI MPA Arif Abbasi told Dawn that the provincial government had failed to provide healthcare facilities to the patients. He said the government wanted to privatise all the hospitals and was creating a tussle between doctors and the health department.

When contacted, RMC Principal and Chief Executive Officer of the allied hospitals Prof Dr Mohammad Umar said the strike affected patients for an hour at the BBH while doctors were available as routine at the DHQ and the Holy Family hospitals.

“RMC deputed 105 medical officers at OPDs of the three hospitals so that healthcare facilities could be provided to the patients in the absence of young doctors.”

He said 105 medical officers had been recruited by the RMC within the last two months.

“All the medical officers are answerable to the RMC and in case of negligence such as observing a strike, their services can be terminated,” he said.

Prof Umar said it was the wrong attitude of doctors to go on a strike. “The strike of doctors and chemists had no moral value. They have to provide healthcare facilities to the patients without any delay. The RMC is working to improve the services of doctors and medical facilities in hospitals,” he said.

On the other hand, YDA Punjab chapter Chairman Dr Haider Akhter said the strike would continue till the government accepted the demand of the doctors. “A complete strike was observed in the three government hospitals,” he said.

“We are demanding action against the ACE officials for manhandling the YDA office-bearers in Lahore without arrest warrants and following the procedure.”

He said the YDA was not asking for the withdrawal of cases against the doctors but the ACE should adopt the legal procedure to take action against any accused.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2017