PESHAWAR: People continue to suffer owing to strikes of doctors against attacks on them by relatives of patients in hospitals as government has been dragging its feet on enforcement of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Healthcare Service Providers and Facilities (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act, 2020.

Currently, doctors have gone on strike since Saturday in Saidu Group of Teaching Hospital, the biggest hospital in Swat district, to demand registration of FIR against the relatives of a young boy, who died after meeting a road accident.

Dr Murad Ali Shah, senior vice president of Young Doctors Association, told this scribe that a 17-year-old boy was brought to Said Group of Teaching Hospital with blood clot in brain. He was admitted for conservative treatment at 11:30pm on Friday, he added.

He said that consultant neurosurgeon Dr Ayaz Qasmi at high dependency unit of the hospital consoled the relatives of the patient that he could be operated upon as per protocol but they wanted him to be operated upon the soonest.

Medics continue strikes against attacks by relatives of patients

“After two and half hours, the boy died and police rushed to the ward. They took Dr Qasmi to police station where he was kept incommunicado for four hours. We demand registration of FIR against the attackers as well as suspension and inquiry against SHO of Saidu police station, otherwise our strike will continue and may be extended to the whole province,” said Dr Murad.

The 1500-bed Said Group of Teaching Hospital and Central Hospital have stopped elective selective services and elective treatments will be stopped throughout Swat on Friday (today).

Dr Murad said that the deceased’s relatives recently held a press conference wherein they warned doctors of action but neither police nor the hospital administration was ready to lodge an FIR against them.

“We demand establishment of security office and deputation of a DSP at the hospital like other big hospitals so our staffers work fearlessly and deal with the violent situations effectively,” he said.

Meanwhile, YDA and Provincial Doctors Association (PDA) have called for black ribbon protest throughout the province and demanded implementation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Healthcare Service Providers and Facilities (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act, 2020 to ensure protection of health workers at their duty places.

PDA said in a press release that hospital staffers worked in fear but government was not bothered about their safety. The government had passed the law four years ago to prevent violence in hospitals but that legislation had yet to be implemented, it said.

Sources told Dawn that the incidents of violence prompted health department to come up with a law to safeguard healthcare providers and ensure provision of smooth services to patients.

“Health workers have been resorting to strikes whenever their community members face violence. It causes suffering for patients. The law, once enforced, will ensure protection of health workers as it violators would face heavy fines and jail terms,” they said.

According to section 3 of the law, any act of violence against healthcare providers or damage to property in a healthcare service institution is punishable, whereas anyone committing any act in contravention of it will be punished with imprisonment of three years along with fine of up to Rs50,000.

The sub-section 1 of the law says that the offender shall be liable to pay to the healthcare service institution a compensation double of the amount of purchase price of medical equipment damaged and the loss caused to the property as may be determined by the court trying the offence.

Elaborating the law, sources said, if the offender did not pay the compensation amount under sub-section 2, the said sum should be recovered as if it was an arrear of land revenue due from him.

Any offence committed under section 3 of the law shall be cognisable and non-bailable.

Besides protecting health professionals, the law is also mean to protect the rights of patients as well by making it binding on healthcare institutions to give complete information of medical treatment to them.

As per law, it shall be the responsibility of each healthcare service institution to furnish, in writing, complete information about medical treatment provided by such healthcare service institution to patients, who seek treatment in the said institution, or to their designated relatives.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2024