PESHAWAR: The hospital administrators and patients have taken a sigh of relief as health workers have stopped going on strikes frequently after police action against members of doctors’ association at the medical teaching institutions.

“The days of protests are over now as back-to-back police action against protesting doctors last month at Hayatabad Medical Complex and Lady Reading Hospital have paid off. The patients, who remain at the receiving end, are at ease now,” said a senior doctor.

He said that until June, the patients suffered from endless series of strikes, especially at LRH where provincial leadership of doctors, paramedics, nurses and Class-IV employees were well-entrenched.

Sick with strikes, a doctor showed a duty roaster for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hospitals which said that there would be strike by Young Doctors Association (YDA) on Monday, a strike by Provincial Doctors Association (PDA) on Tuesday, Paramedics’ strike on Wednesday, IT staff’s strike on Thursday, Class-IV employees’ strike on Friday and All Employees Association’s strike on Saturday while Sunday was a holiday.

Physician says patients heaved a sigh of relief

This situation affected the patients, who banked on the doctors sitting in outpatients departments of the state-run hospitals. The government seemed helpless to control the strikers and ensure smooth flow of patients’ care. Irony was that there was never a strike at the private clinics but the government’s hospitals remained the main stay of strikers.

About five years ago, the then chief justice of Peshawar High Court ordered health department to make healthcare as essential service to put brakes on strikes but no action was taken and the patients continued to suffer.

But deployment of police at HMC and LRH last month, has proved a blessing for the patients. On two consecutive days, the doctors were arrested and thrashed by police at the two hospitals after which the situation became normal.

Now only YDA is protesting but peacefully. YDA demands compensation for the families of their colleagues, who died of gas leakage at their hostels, revoking decision regarding devolution of Postgraduate Medical Institute and payment of stipend to the trainee medical officers, who were inducted in January, but its modus operandi is quite different.

As opposed to the strikes during which they used to paralyse the hospitals, the young doctors have staged sit-in for the past two months, away from the hospitals. The hospitals run smoothly.

A senior physician said that police action sent a clear warning that strikers would get thrashed and face arrests if they tried to lock down hospitals. The message became more loud and clear when LRH administration terminated three leaders of YDA on account of hampering patients’ care.

“Doctors are most educated people and cannot indulge in battles with police owing to which they have stayed quiet after action,” he said. He added that each and every association had a few leaders, who spearheaded the protests, while other members only acted as supporters.

It was evident last month when police arrested YDA leaders. There was none to continue the protest. The government seems to have succeeded in doing away with the culture of strikes and ensuring that patients get diagnostic and treatment services uninterruptedly.

YDA joint secretary Dr Ahmed Zeb said that they would protest victimisation of their leadership. “We stand for the rights of the doctors, who died during duty hours, and would pursue their other demands in a peaceful way. On August 2, we will hold a protest at LRH to show solidarity with our leaders,” he added.

It is, however, a great achievement of the government that there has been no strike at the hospital since June 15.

The government makes promises with doctors but then doesn’t honour the same.

The hospitals don’t have the powers to fulfil their demands relating to policy matters and in the process face strikes.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2017