LARKANA: Doctors affiliated with the Young Consultants Association (YCA) boycotted their assignments at the central outpatient department (OPD) at Chandka Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on Monday when their deadline given to medical superintendent (MS) Dr Irshad Shah for provision of personal protection equipment (PPE) to doctors and paramedics, and for instruments in the operation theatres (OTs) came to an end.

Carrying placards, Dr Ihsanullah Malik, Dr Zahid Shaikh, Dr Ghulam Abbas Qadri, Dr Abdul Rasheed Shaikh and others assembled outside the OPD block and raised slogans for early arrangement of PPE.

Talking to reporters, YCA president Dr Ihsanullah, Dr Abdul Rasheed Shaikh and Dr Qadri said they were compelled to withdraw from work after the deadline given for providing PPE to consultants, doctors and paramedics had expired.

They said their patients and families were dear to them and it was for their safety that they would not attend the OPDs at all hospitals attached with the CMCH.

It was learnt on Monday that the Sindh health department on May 16 in a letter addressed to the MS had asked him to keep ready the relevant record for an inquiry into the matter. It also sought the record of procurement of medicines during 2019-20 and the relevant budget details, including provision of medicines, machinery, equipment, OT instruments of the hospital and expenditures on repair and maintenance.

The letter signed by section officer Zulfikar Ali Dars also called for keeping ready the working strength of professors, consultants, medical officers, paramedical staff and the details of the supplies of PPE to them in wards, including OPDs and Covid-19 wards, along with the situation of standard operation procedures (SOPs). The MS was asked to keep the record ready and communicate it immediately so that the committee’s schedule of visit could be finalised, the letter said.

The hospital managers said that neither they were provided PPE nor SOPs were followed. Under the circumstances, doctors and paramedics were at risk while performing duties in OPDs and indoor wards, they said.

When contacted, store officer Dr Gul Shaikh disputed the doctors’ claims and said the indent books of their units and wards were enough proof of providing PPE.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Paramedical Staff Association, CMCH, general secretary Munawar Mangi told Dawn on Monday that the hospital management had not provided them the required protective gear. He was performing duty at the department of pathology at CMCH (city block) while wearing black armband in protest.

Paramedics working in different units were prone to Covid-19 infection, he said, adding that for a long time, doctors and medical workers had been pressing the hospital for provision of PPE but in vain.

It was because of the management’s “irresponsible attitude” that doctors and paramedics were diagnosed as Covid-19 positive.

A dispenser sitting at the counter of the pathology department was performing without the necessary kit while the man deputed to collect samples was also without PPE, he said.

The matter had time and again been conveyed to Sindh Minister for Irrigation Sohail Anwar Siyal, who is also in charge of Larkana for Covid-19, and the MS, but the situation remained unchanged, Mr Mangi said.

However, the secretary health on May 13 formed a probe committee after receiving a letter from Chandka Medical College Principal Prof Kheo Ram Dholia regarding non-cooperation of the CMCH Larkana MS for providing services to patients. But it had not contacted the principal yet.

Talking to Dawn on Monday, Prof Dholia said he had not been informed about the committee’s schedule. But he admitted that some material after the correspondence was provided in the wards.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2020

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