Hundreds of patients were left in the lurch on Wednesday at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) when doctors locked down almost the entire hospital to protest the government’s failure to issue a notification regarding their service structure and increase in salaries. The protesting doctors have been demonstrating since July 19 for basic pay scale (BPS) and improved service structure.
On Wednesday, the Young Doctors Association (YDA) at PIMS also closed down the Children’s Hospital and the gynaecology department, claiming all problems in the hospital had been created by the PIMS executive director, “who was busy in saving his position and doing nothing for the resolution of doctors’ problems”. The doctors only performed duty in the PIMS emergency ward, while other services, including OPDs, operation theatres and other departments, remained closed.
The patients, who had came from far flung areas for treatment and did not know about the strike, suffered badly in the scorching heat. Dozens of patients, including women, children and elderly were seen sitting in the lawns of the hospital, awaiting medical aid. A number of patients said they were waiting for doctors to end the strike, but nothing of the sort happened. Farzana Jabeen, a 38-year-old woman from Chakwal, said she had been sitting outside the PIMS OPD for the last ten days.
“We are here for the last ten days as my 26-year-old nephew Faisal is under treatment in the surgical emergency ward. He was brought here after an accident in which he received head injuries. We don’t have any other place to stay so we have taken shelter here,” she said. She said the emergency ward was open, but no doctor visited the ward due to the strike. “Even if someone finds a doctor by luck, the doctor is not ready to pay attention to the patient. Today, a doctor visited the emergency and was about to make a quick exit without examining my nephew when my brother-in-law requested him to examine the patient. He observed the patient for a while and then left saying he is fine,” she added. Mrs Fayyaz, a middle-aged woman pushing her 10-year-old daughter having a bullet wound, said her daughter was referred to PIMS by Holy family Hospital Rawalpindi.
“My daughter received a bullet wound in her feet at a marriage ceremony. The bullet was removed but the particles remained inside, so the wound got infected. She needs fluorography therapy and a minor operation that is only available at PIMS. Where should I go now with the Children Hospital closed down? I cannot afford private treatment,” she said.
She lamented that no one would take responsibility if anything happened to her daughter. The on-strike doctors, however, remained unmoved and refused to call off the protest. They said they were forced to resort to such measures as the government had failed to fulfil their genuine demands.
They said the government was responsible for the sufferings of patients and the authorities would be blamed in case of casualties. Dr Asfandyar, vice president of the YDA, said, “PIMS ED Mehmood Jamal is an incompetent man but he is enjoying two slots at a time due to his contacts in the power corridors. He also has the additional charge of the PIMS Medical College principal.” Asfandyar said all the problems had been created by the ED, as he had no idea about running such a major institute. He said the PIMS ED was not interested in handling the doctors’ issue, “so the government and the ED will be responsible for any causality or emergency situation, as the doctors have a moral ground for staging the protest”.
“The devolution of the Health Ministry has affected our issue. Cabinet Secretary Nargis Sethi formulated the new service structure for doctors, but unfortunately after the devolution, the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) does not know anything about the revised service structure and the PIMS ED is not making things clear to them,” said Dr Taqqi Anwer, a representative of YDA PIMS. Talking about the PIMS Poly Clinic chapter, he said, “They stand with us on the issue of service structure, but they are not protesting as their 43 contractual doctors have been regularised, whereas only 17 of the 100 in PIMS have been regularised.”
