PESHAWAR, May 25: With the strike of doctors continuing on the 10th consecutive day, the provincial government is yet to implement the judgment of Peshawar High Court through which it was directed to declare health professionals as essential service so as to curb undesirable strikes in the health institutions.

The high court had delivered the said judgment on Oct 13, 2010, and directed the provincial government to implement it within four months.

However, despite the passage of over seven months the government did not pay any heed to it thus giving a free hand to the doctors to go on strike with least concern for the ailing patients.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Pir Liaqat Ali had delivered that judgment and also directed the government to constitute an arbitration council/committee for redressing genuine grievances of health professionals.

The bench had taken suo motu notice of the issue in 2009 while hearing another case.

The court verdict said: “The services of the medical professionals/doctors, paramedics, nursing staff and other employees of the government hospitals shall be declared essential services and necessary amendments be made in the West Pakistan Essential Services (Amendment) Act, 1958 or the government may by notification to be published in the official gazette, carry forward the above object because of the provision of section 4 of the said Act.”

The court directed that it was essential that a disciplinary committee headed by the KMU vice-chancellor or the secretary health be constituted and senior most administrative officers should be its members.

“The charter of their domain shall be clearly prescribed and it shall be responsible for maintaining discipline in all ranks and files of all the employees of the government run hospitals and colleges.

In case of any unpleasant incident due to negligence of the medical staff or otherwise where a patient dies in the hospital, this committee shall entertain the complaint, probe into the matter in a professional manner and to fix the responsibility in a reasonable manner,” the court had pronounced.