The doctors working in government hospitals find themselves vulnerable after an incident of firing at Jinnah Hospital Lahore’s emergency in which a patient received severe bullet wounds.
The assailant entered the hospital with a loaded weapon and was not stopped at any of the entrances. A woman doctor was next to the bed administering treatment to a patient when she received gun shots. The doctors went on strike after the incident and refused to work in the surgical emergency where the tragic episode occurred until there was improvement in the security situation.
A doctor who works in Jinnah Hospital’s emergency told this scribe on condition of anonymity that the security situation in the hospital was so poor that anyone could enter the trauma centre carrying a bomb if they pleased. There are no security guards who frisk you while entering the hospital.
“We must be grateful to the terrorists, criminals and thieves who spare us despite the extremely poor security arrangements in the hospital,” he said. He said that a long queue of rickshaws just outside the hospital was a security risk for the hospital as anyone could place explosives material in one of the rickshaws.
Dr Adnan Gondal of Young Doctors Association (YDA) from Jinnah Hospital told Pakistan Today that it was the third incident of firing in the last two years in the hospital. He said that an assailant emptied his clip while firing inside the hospital five months ago but the government had done nothing to improve the security situation even after that brutal attack. He was of the view that the health department must introduce a policy that there would be only one attendant with the patient as is the practice in the private hospitals. He said that there is a police check post in the hospital but all the policemen deputed there are inefficient and spend most of their time relaxing on the job.
“The outdoor and the surgical emergency have been closed as the doctors have refused to work under the current security arrangements,” he said, and added that the doctors would not work until the government issued a notification to improve the security situation. He said that the doctors would register an FIR against the provincial health advisor if a similar incident happened again.
Dr Saud Rana of Lahore’s Children Hospital (CH) told Pakistan Today that the emergency of CH was closed three times during the last month alone because of scuffles between the attendants and the doctors.
“There are four, sometimes five attendants with one patient and they all want speedy treatment of their loved ones,” he said. “There are fewer beds in the hospitals than there are patients and every patient demands that he must be treated first. Lack of security arrangements in hospitals allows the attendants to enter in large numbers, which makes the job of security personnel even more difficult,” he opined.
Dr Muhammad Umair of Ganga Ram (GR) hospital told Pakistan Today that the lives of both patients and doctors were at risk because of poor security arrangements in the hospital. He said that the hospital administration had no authority to hire and fire the security guards as they were hired by private contractors. He said that the hospital should hire its own security guards who should be skilled and highly trained. He told this scribe that the Gyne emergency of the hospital had been closed for the last three days because of a protest by the woman doctors.
“Some men entered the ward and harassed the lady doctors, which forced them to go on strike until there was improvement in the security arrangements of the hospital,” he said.