The Punjab Young Doctors Association (YDA), strike against the government’s alleged indifference towards their demand of the revision of service structures entered its third day on Wednesday.
Two days ago the doctors had announced that they were going on strike for an indefinite period of time to push for their demands.
The strike caused problems for the patients and attendants, as the operation theatres, indoor and outdoor services remain suspended for the fifth day today across Punjab, with the government taking no alternate steps to facilitate the patients.
The YDA had shut down the outpatient departments (OPDs) of the public hospitals across the province in protest, causing inconvenience to the patients and their attendants.
Many patients, who required outdoor treatment, did not visit the hospitals in anticipation of the unavailability of the healthcare services.
The patients received a double blow as reports were received about hundreds of operations being delayed or postponed partly due to the young doctors’ strike and partly due to the load shedding.
As a result, thousands of patients were left unattended in the indoor wards as well.
It belied the claims of the YDA that the young doctors will not hamper treatment in the emergency wards, indoor wards and ICUs/CCUs.
The closure of the OPDs increased the load of patients in the emergency wards, which also affected the quality of treatment given to the seriously sick and injured patients.
The patients and their attendants strongly criticised the doctors for denying medical treatment to the patients who could not afford to get expensive treatment at private hospitals.
The doctors by observing the strike are not only breaching their oath but also trampling the basic rights of patients, they said.
They also criticised the provincial government for failing to resolve the crisis and demanded stern action against the doctors for their apathetic attitude towards the poor masses.
The Punjab government has shown indifference towards resolving the matter and left the patients at the mercy of the young doctors who had resorted to their usual tactics of using the patients as a shield to influence the government to announce a revised service structure for them.
The administrations of the teaching hospitals of Lahore, however, claimed that they had ensured the provision of healthcare services in emergency and indoor wards without any hiccups.
“We have also made arrangements to provide outdoor treatment to patients in emergency wards,” claimed the administrative official of a local hospital.
Meanwhile, the YDA members have vowed to continue their strike until the fulfillment of their demand of service structure in the province.
They also condemned the government for playing in the hands of the bureaucracy, backing off from its promises and forcing the doctors to go on strike.
They are not doctors. They are dacoits and vampires who only care for money and designation. Should be ashamed of themselves.
Most of these young doctors are the product of corrupt system. They used unfair means to get MBBS degrees and know nothing about the profession.
Comments are closed.