LAHORE: Scores of young doctors on Monday allegedly held the medical superintendent of the Services Hospital hostage to exert pressure on him to withdraw action against their colleague.

The medics turned violent when the hospital recommended criminal proceedings against a postgraduate trainee student Dr Moeez for recording ‘unlawful and illegal’ video clips of an operating theatre (OT) of emergency department some two days back.

The PG trainee had uploaded the video clips on social media which had defamed the institute when he claimed lack of health facilities for the patients who were undergoing procedures in the theatre.

The internal security in-charge/AMS complained to the higher authorities that the PG trainee recorded the video of the patient without his consent in the operating theatre and then uploaded it on social media.

He leaked the secrecy and defamed the institute when the video was shared many times by three other staff members of the institute, the AMS said.

He recommended action against the PG trainee and other employees of the hospital under Peca Act 2016 under sections 19, 20 and 21 and other relevant laws.

The MS later forwarded the same to the Punjab health department for registration of FIR when a five-member inquiry committee also endorsed strict action against the employees primarily against PG trainee Dr Moeez.

In addition to the criminal proceedings, the MS had also sent the case to the health authorities to initiate against them disciplinary action under PEEDA Act 2006 and the Civil Servant Act 1973/74.

The witnesses said the young doctors of the Services Hospital exerted pressure on the hospital administration to withdraw the action proposed against the PG trainee.

They threatened to shut down the healthcare services at the hospital and continued agitation for the last two days.

On Monday, the witnesses said, a group of medics attacked and held MS Dr Munir Malik hostage for many hours.

They warned that if the action proposed against the PG trainee was not withdrawn forthwith, the hospital authorities would have to face ‘dire consequences’.

They also threatened to suspend the services at the OPD and indoor and used offensive remarks against the MS and those other officials who had proposed criminal proceeding against their colleague.

The Services has been a ‘troubled hospital’ for the admin officers due to the violent activities of the young doctors.

Dr Munir Malik was the third MS who faced wrath of the young medics.

In 2022, the YDA men had attacked the office of the then MS Dr Ahtishamul Haq, allegedly thrashed him and then held him hostage for many hours when he had proposed action against some on-duty medics in the wake of death of a patient due to their negligence.

An official said a young patient namely Hamid had walked into the emergency ward of the hospital in February 2022 with some health complications and the doctors had ignored him for many hours which later led to his death at the bed.

He said the camera footage unveiled criminal negligence of the medics when they declared on the hospital record ‘received dead’.

As the relatives of the patient protested, a group of young doctors reached there, subjected them to torture and then suspended the emergency services.

The MS had then declared the treating doctors guilty of negligence, the official said adding that the YDA members attacked his office.

He said a principal of the Services Institute of Medical Sciences/Services Hospital had also faced [somewhat] same situation due to the behaviour of the medics.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2023