The suffering of patients finally came to an end on Thursday when the Young Doctor’s Association (YDA) at PIMS called off their month and a half-long strike and resumed duties in all departments of the hospital, a day after the approval of the new Career Structure for Health Personnel (CSHP).
OPD, operation theatres, Children’s Hospital, Mother and Child Health Care Centre and other departments of PIMS which had remained closed during the doctors’ strike finally opened for service on Thursday.
The number of patients visiting wards was quite less as news that the strike had ended had not yet spread. The hospital administration has lined up several operations for today as they want to compensate patients for the suspension of services during the strike.
Azhra Kamran, pregnant by six months, who visits the hospital every month for a routine check-up, expressed satisfaction after consulting a gynaecologist at PIMS.
“I am glad the strike finally came to an end, as I had to visit the concerned gynaecologist privately twice during the strike and paid heavy fees, among costs incurred for getting tests done from private labs. I had no more money left to spend on private check-ups, so I am happy the hospital has opened for poor patients like us,” she said.
She added that doctors had only served their personal interests, as during the strike they did not consider the suffering of patients who had come from far flung areas, but only took their personal gain into consideration and got their salaries increased.
Habib Yasir who was waiting outside the gastro ward told Pakistan Today that despite a very light patient-load, doctors had kept him waiting extensively for a check-up, while he suffered from gastroenteritis and severe fever.
About the strike, he said, “The doctors got salary increments so their cause was successful, but their attitude towards patient-care has been revealed to be no better than what we find in government hospitals. However, during the strike I did once visit a doctor at a private clinic where I was surprised by his caring behaviour”.
PIMS YDA Representative Dr Taqqi Anwer showed his satisfaction over the approval of their new career structure and promised the doctors’ commitment to compensate patients. He said, “Today we had a meeting at the hospital where Executive Director Mehmood Jamal was present to make clear the new service structure to our colleagues.”
He said they had lined up operations for Friday and deputed more staff to operation theatres and other wards to accommodate maximum number of patients before Eid.
