ISLAMABAD: A patient died at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) on Tuesday because he did not receive the required treatment due to the ongoing strike.

Omer Aftab, 28, was brought to the hospital on Monday at 11:15am to be treated for blood clotting in the leg but he was not checked by a doctor as they were on strike.

The family took him back and brought him to the hospital again after midnight when his condition worsened and he died when he was refused treatment.

A relative of Omer, Mohammad Tasneem told media persons the clotting in Omer’s leg had started due to an injury.

Inquiry committee is to ascertain cause of death, fix responsibility

“He was issued a registration slip [the first time he was brought here] but doctors refused to treat him. A lady doctor, who was reading a magazine, suggested we bring the patient back after the strike,” he said.

Tasneem said Omer was brought to the hospital’s emergency department again at 3am when his condition worsened and that he was refused treatment the second time as well which is why he died.

“We were told that the clots in his leg had reached his heart which is why he died. Omer was a resident of Shakrial and was the only bread winner in his family. He was the only brother of two sisters,” he said.

Pims Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Akram told Dawn he had sought an explanation from the striking employees as soon as he heard of the incident. He said the employees are denying that the patient had been denied treatment and that they are claiming the patient was dead when he was brought in.

“I have therefore constituted an inquiry committee headed by professor of anaesthesia Iqbal Memon and other members of the committee are professor of general medicine Rizwan Qazi, Dr Ejaz Qadeer and Dr Naeem Malik,” he said.

“The committee will inquire into the reason of death and will also fix responsibility,” he added.

Once a welfare hospital, Pims was affiliated with the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University due to which the status of its employees, who were civil servants, has been changing and they have been offered to become employees of the university.

The quotas for their children in appointments and various courses are being withdrawn.

Employees have been demanding that the hospital be separated from the university and they have held a number of protests in this regard. The current protest has continued for over two weeks now.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2017