PESHAWAR, May 11: Junior doctors of three major public sector hospitals — Lady Reading Hospital, Khyber Teaching Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex — conditionally ended their protest on Thursday.
Dr Aziz, president of the Combined Doctors Action Committee, while making the announcement said the main accused involved in attack on a doctor of the Khyber Teaching Hospital had been arrested and a case had been registered against him. He, however, set a week’s deadline for the acceptance of other demands that included a judicial probe into the incident and a foolproof security for doctors working in public sector hospitals.
Talking to reporters at the Peshawar Press Club, Dr Aziz said that they had ample proof of the critical condition of the child, whose death triggered the incident.
He said that the child’s parents were informed about the seriousness of their child’s illness prior to his being admitted to the hospital and a panel comprising seven doctors, including a professor, provided medical treatment to the patient.
The doctor said that the child had been suffering from meningitis and was brought in an unconscious state to the hospital.
“The doctors took it as a test case and tried their best to save the child, though it was almost impossible,” he said.
Dr Waqar Alam Jan, president, Doctors Teachers Association, said that though the incident was regrettable, senior doctors abstained from the strike in view of the hardships faced by the patients.
He also said that demands put forth by the Combined Doctors Action Committee were genuine and must be accepted.
He said that without the services of junior doctors they would be unable to provide health facilities to thousands of patients visiting the three teaching hospitals and the authorities should avoid playing foul with them.
He showed to newsmen, video footage of the incident captured by a mobile phone camera that showed armed men beating and dragging Dr Tahir, a house officer at the Khyber Teaching Hospital, adding that the hooliganism lasted for more than two hours but the local police did not make it to the scene of the incident despite repeated requests.