ISLAMABAD, Jan 4: Nearly 4,000 unsuspecting patients at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) suffered as the nursing, paramedical and non-medical staff observed a complete strike. All activities in the ward, outpatient departments and operation theatres were affected. A partial strike was also held at the Polyclinic.

The strike followed demands for the complete abolition of the Health Personnel Pay Scale Bill 2011, which was introduced on Aug 26 last year. The bill revised the grade and pay-scale of nursing, paramedical and non-medical staff members at government-run hospitals.

However, a few months on the health personnel are dissatisfied with the provisions of the bill and have termed it “controversial”. Some paramedical staff members have gone to the extent of calling it against the rights of civil servants.

Juilana Williams, a senior nurse leading the strike at Pima, told Dawn: “We want complete abolition of the pay scale bill since it is discriminatory and will affect the efficient working of staff members.”

Ms Williams explained that nurses were given grade 15 during the tenure of former President Pervez Musharraf and gazette status, but now they have been placed in grade 7 under the bill alongside paramedics which is unfair.

She added: “We have been on a partial strike since the implementation of the bill but now are observing a complete strike because our demands are not being met.”

While the paramedical and non-medical staff observing the strike, all activities in the hospital were stalled. Routine surgical procedures were suspended while OPDs remained closed for the day leaving over 4,000 patients without treatment or relief.

The strike affected almost every department of the hospital, including the OPDs of the Children Hospital, Islamabad Hospital, Mother and Newborn Children Hospital.

Noman Ahmed, a relative of a patient, complained: “I have been unable to get medicines from the pharmacy because the hospital is closed.” He said the administration staff of the hospital was not available to resolve their concerns. On the other hand, when Dawn contacted the administration, an official had this to say: “There is no strike at the hospital. Every department operated as per routine business hours and there were no complaints.”

This given that the Pims wards have not been cleaned in the last two days and garbage mounds could be seen within the hospital corridors was surprising to say the least. In fact, according to one patient, when senior faculty members and doctors tried to clean the corridors on their own, the striking paramedical staff had littered at the swept places as well.

The OPD at the Federal Government Services Hospital (Polyclinic) was also shut down before the scheduled closing hours because of the protesting paramedical staff.

“The demands are very much the same – we don't want the implementation of the bill,” said a paramedical staff worker.

Another striking staff member at the Polyclinic added: “With implementation of the bill, we are being discriminated since we are the basic pay-scale employees and civil servants. No one has the right to run a parallel financial system within one government.”

When Dawn approached the executive director of the hospital, Prof Mehmood Jamal, and asked about the difficulties faced by the patients, he said: “The secretary of the Capital Administration and Development Division, Imtiaz Inayat Elahi, has been informed about the matter and he has assured us that he will address the concerns of the striking paramedical staff.”

Prof Jamal asserted that they were trying to bring the situation under control.