PESHAWAR, Sept 18: Patients continued to suffer as doctors’ strike in three teaching hospitals of the city entered the fourth day on Monday. The strike call was given by the House Officers’ Association of the Khyber Teaching Hospital after one of their female colleagues was beaten up allegedly by relatives of an elderly lady who had died in Coronary Care Unit (CCU) of the hospital on Friday.

Medical officers, trainee medical officers and house officers of the Lady Reading Hospital and the Hayatabad Medical Complex also joined the strike on Sunday, demanding protection to doctors.

Hospital sources said that the patient was shifted from the medical ward to the CCU at around 4pm on Friday where her condition deteriorated and she died. This infuriated her relatives who beat up a female house officer of the ward.

The doctors demand arrest of and punishment to the people responsible for the attack on Dr Asma. Meanwhile, doctors have also announced to stop emergency services at the three teaching hospitals of the city. Their representatives say that they will continue strike till arrest of the people involved in thrashing the female doctor. A meeting of medical officers took place at the LRH where a Combined Doctors Committee was formed. Later the committee demanded removal of the chief executive of the KTH for what it called his failure to protect doctors.