PESHAWAR: Lack of protection for health professionals has been affecting patient care, especially of women patients, at the public sector’s hospitals in Peshawar, according to sources.

They said that medics were beaten up by relatives of a patient on Saturday. They added that Ziarat Gul, a police constable, assaulted a doctor and a dispenser when he didn’t find female radiologist to perform ultrasound on his wife at Lady Reading Hospital.

“The hospital is short of female sonographers owing to which they cannot be made available in evening. Ziarat Gul came at around 5:30pm and wanted a female doctor. It led to a scuffle,” Hospital Director Dr Khalid Masood told Dawn. He added that the constable later tendered a written apology for the incident but the staff, he victimised, didn’t get any solace.

Official says hurling threats at health professionals has become a routine as there is no solid plan for their protection

“There are five ultrasound machines, eight X-ray plants and MRI and CT scanners, which operate in the morning shifts. The female radiologist hands over results to the patients but there is no female available after 4:30pm at the department,” said Dr Khalid.

However, the incident is just a reminder of the grim security situation under which doctors, paramedics, nurses and other staff have been constantly facing threats at the hands of patients’ attendants at the hospitals.

“LRH, the province’s biggest hospital, receives 4,000 patients daily, including 1,000 females for whom there are about five qualified radiologists, who work in morning shift,” said Dr Khalid.

A senior administration officer told Dawn that three female radiologists had resigned from their jobs during the past few years owing to lack of protection. “Hurling threats at the health professionals has become a routine matter but there is no solid plan to ensure their protection,” he said.

LRH has 104 security personnel and is deploying a security manager to ensure that staff works fearlessly but it is not possible as far as the attitude of the people is concerned. “Each emergency patient is accompanied by at least 10 people, who want immediate attention of the senior doctors. They don’t want to follow a proper protocol of patients’ treatment,” said the officer.

A medical officer at Khyber Teaching Hospital told this scribe that people were in the habit of turning violent on petty matters because they knew that they would get scot-free even if they beat up the hospital staff.

“The hospital staff shows them leniency because of sympathy with the patients but their relatives don’t realise that it takes time to investigate patients and start their treatment accordingly,” he said.

The LRH, which is the ultimate destination of patients from all the districts of the province, has inked an agreement with ICRC to enhance security for staff and improve emergency care. However, the main reason is lack of peoples’ education about hospitals.

Two years ago, LRH announced one patient, one attendant policy to reduce unnecessary rush but that couldn’t be implemented.

Dr Khalid said that the security plan, to be enforced in collaboration with ICRC, meant to protect staff as well as ensure quality treatment of the critically-injured and sick people.

Representatives of doctors, paramedics and nurses have time and again raised the issue of lack of protection but it has not been possible to deploy a constable for each staff member of a hospital. As a result, the health professionals continue to be victimised and intimidated by people.

The government has been considering a law to protect its employees against trouble-makers but the same is yet to see light of the day.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2017