PESHAWAR, June 27: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s decision to declare health care essential services and ban strikes by doctors, nurses and paramedics in its facilities across the province has caused unrest among the employees of the health department in the province.

Dr Abdul Qadir, head of the interim committee of the Provincial Doctors’ Association, said on Wednesday: “the notification is undemocratic and has been enforced in an arbitrary way. None of the stakeholders has been taken into confidence before its issuance.”

Speaking during a demonstration against the notification at the Lady Reading Hospital, he said doctors, nurses and paramedics would challenge the notification in the court of law.

Jauhar Ali, president of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Paramedical Association, said the medical fraternity would resist the implementation of the ‘harsh law’.

He said the notification would depress health professionals caring for the victims of terrorist attacks.

Under the health department notification, the strikes by health care providers in the government-run institutions will be illegal and violators will be dealt with in line with the Essential Services Act, 1958.

According to the relevant officials, declaration of health care as essential service is meant to ensure better delivery of health care at hospitals.

During the last three years, doctors at all the three teaching hospitals of the province, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Hayatabad Medical Complex and Lady Reading Hospital, went on strike many times for addressing their problems. These strikes prompted the Peshawar High Court to order the health department to form a committee for resolving genuine grievances of health professionals.

The court had issued the orders in 2010, observing: “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.”

It also observed: “This will curb and suppress the detestable activities of the pressure groups, politically motivated and undesirable strikes in these institutions causing serious inconvenience to ailing community where some patients die because of non-availability of timely health cover.”

The officials said in line with the court orders, committees had been formed to address grievances of doctors, nurses and paramedics.

They said the health department had sent a copy of the notification to the PHC to apprise it of the compliance of its orders in this respect.