The medical staff of the Polyclinic Hospital and the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) continued their indefinite strike on Wednesday. The pharmacies and laboratories of both the public sector hospitals remained non-functional, adding to the miseries of patients who came from far flung areas for treatment. The paramedical, clerical and nursing staff as well as the janitorial staff observed the strike against the new service structure, announced by President Asif Ali Zardari last year. The Joint Action Committee of Regular Employees of Federal Government Hospitals called the strike against the government’s plan to provide legal cover to the Career Structure for Health Personnel (CSHP) Ordinance 2011.
The act allows doctors and paramedic staff under the federal government’s domain to replace their current Basic Pay Scale System (BPS-1 to 22) with the Special Health Personnel Pay Scale (HPS-1 to 13). The doctors from PIMS, Polyclinic and Handicap hospital gathered at the National Press Club to stage a protest, blocking the roads for two hours. The PIMS hospital patients faced difficulties due to the non-availability of staff. They said earlier the CNG crisis had prevented them from bringing their patients to the hospitals, but once there, their worries did not cease.
Hamza Khan, a patient’s relative who had come to PIMS from Bhara Kaho, said the poor people were already suffering because of the high inflation and the strike only added to their problems. “We have been stung from both sides,” he said. Another patient, Ali Ahmed who had come from Murree, said: “Whatever the issue is, no matter how critical the crisis is, the staff must be here to fulfill their responsibility as it is a matter of life and death.”
Meanwhile, the Polyclinic Hospital Young Doctors Association (YDA) and All Pakistan Paramedical Staff Federation (APPSF) announced full support for the regularisation of the HPS structure, terming it a privilege for all health professionals.
Polyclinic YDA Head Mohammad Ajmal said: “The CSHP ordinance has up-scaled the services of the regular doctors and dentists and provided increased stipend to trainee doctors, allowances, time-scale promotions and career ladders for general duty doctors.”
Ajmal said all the doctors and paramedic staff were given the option to choose either the old BPS structure or the new HPS structure and a majority of the health professionals opted for the HPS structure. He added that the YDA would resist protests by any cadre in federal hospitals against the implementation of the ordinance. Talking to Pakistan Today, All-Non-Medical Health Employees Association president Manzar Abbas expressed reservations over the unjustified distribution of power among the medical and non-medical staff, saying: “The influential status of the medical staff compelled us to go on strike. “The public hospitals, including PIMS, Polyclinic and Handicap Hospital’s non-medical staff will go on a complete strike on Thursday if their demands are not met.” He stated that according to the law, the Cabinet Division could not pass any ordinance without consulting the relevant organisations, such as the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) or Islamabad Capital Territory. He added that all these relevant bodies had been bypassed while making this decision.
PIMS Deputy Director Dr Zulfiqar Ghauri said: “The whole system of the hospital has been destroyed. We have negotiated with the non-medical staff union to give them the relief possible.”
He said the matter of the paramedical staff should be referred to the CADD Secretary, Imtiaz Inayat Ehali and ensured the hospital administration that the issue would be resolve within a week.
