FAISALABAD: Four medical associations have given a 48-hour deadline to the Allied Hospital administration and the police as well for beefing up the security of the healthcare facility, warning them that otherwise they will devise a protest strategy.

The deadline was given at a press conference jointly called by the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), Young Doctors Association (YDA), Medical Teachers Association (MTA) and the Young Nurses Association, at the newly-established Burns Centre of the hospital on Saturday.

Addressing the press conference, YDA president Dr Maroof Vaince said despite repeated police assurances of providing fool-proof security to the staff and deployment of 10 to 12 armed policemen at the hospital check post, nothing was done in this regard.

He said the situation was creating a sense of insecurity among the doctors and the hospital staff.

He said during the last three months more than 10 such incidents had taken place at the hospital in which its staffers had been subjected to torture and its property ransacked.

“We give 48 hours to the police and the hospital administration to make security arrangements. The government should also ensure ‘one attendant, one patient’ policy for the hospital. If our demands were not met, we will go to any extent for the protection of our colleagues,” he added.

PMA President Dr Rai Arif said miscreants had tortured the doctors and pricked a nurse with a needle but instead of providing security to medics, the police side with the intruders.

He also demanded transfer of Civil Lines DSP Mohammad Usman for “backing the troublemakers”.

PMA Secretary Dr Irfan criticised security guards for stopping the media persons from performing their duty instead of controlling those who attacked doctors and ransacked the hospital property.

Private Hospitals Association head Dr Saulat Nawaz said the doctors were soft targets requiring extra security, seeking a mechanism for timely alerting police about some untoward incident.

MTA President Dr Ashraf blamed the media for holding doctors responsible for the death of a patient, Akhtar, allegedly after being administered a fake injection. He said the parents of Akhtar had expressed satisfaction with his treatment.

Published in Dawn October 4th, 2015

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