THERE are few uglier reflections of our collective failure to resolve an issue than the simmering row that has divided doctors and the government of Punjab for the past many years.

The long-running dispute continues to manifest itself in various situations. The latest incident resulted from a physical assault on doctors inside a government-run hospital in Sargodha. This led to the closing of outpatient departments in public hospitals all over the province.

In addition, emergency treatment was suspended in the Sargodha hospital where the attack took place as also at the General Hospital in Lahore which had been the site of a similar incident recently.

The strike exacerbated the woes of thousands of patients who now had no one to turn to in their moment of need. For the strikers, this would have meant successful action.

The goal of such an extreme protest is obviously to deliver a crippling blow to the system.

The striking doctors, no doubt agitating against a sinister trend that has seen medical staff assaulted by the patients’ attendants, knew how vulnerable the system is. With them off duty, everything had to come tumbling down.

The major recipient of blame and criticism has once again been the government. However, it will be a gross exaggeration to say that the young doctors’ closure of operations had widespread sympathy.

Gone are the days when these doctors could draw support from the people and media. They have allowed their feud with the health authorities in Punjab to go on for too long for anyone’s comfort.

There have been far too many crippling protests heaping misery on the suffering people.

Just as the provincial government stands exposed, and has been criticised for its inability to emerge from the unending meetings with a solution, tough questions are being asked of the forever angry young medics about how long they can stay away from their work.

They are accused of frequently allowing vested interests to hijack a movement which was originally aimed at securing a just service structure.

As the point-scoring math goes, this might please some government negotiators. In terms of healthcare at public hospitals the ongoing war spells disaster. It is once again at a stage that requires firefighters who could emerge from the ranks of the senior doctors; the latter — hopefully — enjoy the respect of both the young doctors and the government.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2016