YDA forces PIMS admin out of office

The Young Doctor’s Association (YDA) at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) on Tuesday locked down the administration offices and forced the executive director and two joint executive directors to leave their offices. They gave a written deadline of two days for the issuance of a notification for raise in their salaries, warning they would close down the emergency services of the hospital if their demand was not accepted.
Hundreds of patients continued to suffer in Islamabad’s major hospital, PIMS, when doctors locked down almost the entire hospital in protest against the government’s failure to raise their salaries.
The doctors have been protesting since July 19 for a revision of the basic pay scale (BPS) and improved service structure. Now they warned the hospital administration of closing down the emergency ward if their notices were not issued in the next two days.
Dr Taqqi Anwar, a representative of YDA said, “Today we have warned Executive Director Mehmood Jamal that emergency services would be closed down in the next two days if our demands are not fulfilled.”
He said they had evacuated and locked down the offices of the ED and JEDs on Tuesday and given a written warning to the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD).
He said, “In case of any causality or emergency situation during the closure of emergency services, the ED would be responsible, as he is not paying due attention to the issue.”
The YDA has also closed down Children’s Hospital and the gynaecology department since last week and claimed that the current situation had been created by the PIMS executive director. The doctors performed duties only in the emergency ward of the hospital on Tuesday, while other services remained closed for the past 28 days, including the OPDs, operation theaters and other departments. Sumera Malik, a 25-year-old patient, was disappointed and frustrated after finding the gynaecology ward of PIMS closed. “I was here for a routine check up as my delivery is near, but I could not find the relevant doctor. Now I am worried, for if the strike does not end in the near future, where would I go for the delivery. I cannot afford a private treatment,” she told Pakistan Today.