ISLAMABAD: The medical and para-medical staff of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) on Thursday called off their strike and announced to return to work, bringing to end the suffering of patients at the federal capital’s major hospital.
The hospital protesters made this announcement on the 25th consecutive day of the strike after assurance of administrative separation of PIMS from Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) by Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry.
“I have fulfilled my responsibility and now addressed the concerns of medical and para-medical staff of PIMS,” the minister said addressing the protesters at the hospital. He added that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had opposed the SZABMU act which was passed by the Parliament in the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) tenure.
He also said that he is not against the university but the hospital should be separated from the university. He added that the cabinet has approved the separation of the hospital from the university and assured that the bill in this regard will be passed by the Parliament soon.
The medical and para-medical staff of PIMS was on strike from the last 25 days, paralysing essential services at the hospital. Due to agitation, all the out-patient departments of the hospital remained non-functional due to which patients faced hardships and several operations could not be conducted due to the protest.
Due to long strike, patients used to seek treatment in private hospitals and clinics and those who couldn’t afford the medical fees were forced to stay at home.
