LAHORE: Scores of doctors, nurses and paramedics at the Children’s Hospital staged a protest on Wednesday leading to the shutdown of emergency services and the outpatient department while blocking Ferozepur Road.

The demonstration was sparked by a scuffle between the medical staff and attendants following the death of a baby.

The attendants alleged the baby died due to the negligence on the part of duty doctors, while the medical personnel blamed the attendants for assaulting the staff. The tense situation led to an hour-long protest by the Children’s Hospital chapter of the Young Doctors Association (YDA), causing inconvenience for motorists and other road users.

Moreover, dozens of sick children were left unattended in the emergency and other wards.

The blockade on Ferozepur Road resulted in several ambulances, carrying critical patients, being stuck in long queues with no alternate route available to transport them to hospitals. The medical personnel refused to allow passage for the ambulances until action was taken against the attendants involved in the incident.

According to the attendants, they repeatedly requested emergency care to save the baby’s life, but the duty doctors allegedly neglected their pleas. They further claimed that the young doctors took them to a secluded area of the hospital, called in more members of the YDA, and subjected them to inhumane torture before handing them over to the police. Subsequently, the police filed a case against the attendants.

The attendants accused the YDA members of behaving more like “goons than doctors,” as they allegedly held them hostage and inflicted violence instead of providing the baby’s body. In response, the doctors refuted the allegations and stated that the attendants had attacked and severely injured a doctor who was on duty.

Meanwhile, the hospital administration made desperate efforts to ensure the provision of emergency services to critically ill patients. The YDA exerted pressure on the administration to support criminal action against the attackers. The protest concluded peacefully after the police provided the protesters with a copy of the first information report and shared pictures of the attackers behind bars.

Punjab Health Minister Prof Javed Akram alleged the grandfather of the deceased minor girl was a police employee of the Sindh police. He said the health department would write to the Sindh police for action against the police employee for torturing the doctor who suffered multiple injuries.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2023