- 02 Apr 2011
20 patients die as doctors continue strike - 02 Apr 2011
Confusion looms: Strike the only constant in doctors’ struggle - 02 Apr 2011
Doctors on strike in Punjab - 02 Apr 2011
Doctors’ demands
- RSS
- Today's Paper
- Subscribe
- beta 2.1
Alerts
Punjab protests: Doctors may call off strike in 48 hours
Physicians accuse provincial govt of arresting strikers; hospitals call in medical students.
As doctors strike for higher salaries, patients are the real sufferers. A woman holds her baby, who died because doctors at Allied Hospital in Faisalabad were on protest. PHOTO: INP
LAHORE:
Punjab’s junior doctors may partially end their strike by returning to the emergency rooms over the next 48 hours, in response to mediation by medical university professors and senior doctors, even as reports continued to surface of patients dying because of a lack of medical attention in hospitals across the province.
The Young Doctors’ Association (YDA), which called for the strike action, may end its boycott of emergency rooms at hospitals after receiving assurances from the Punjab government, delivered by medical professors, that their demands for salary increments will be met over the next 48 hours.
According to sources familiar with the matter, junior doctors will continue their strike in the non-emergency departments of hospitals until their demands are met.
Earlier in the day, the YDA claimed that the Punjab government had been trying to intimidate its members by arresting some of them from their homes.
“It is almost as if they are using kidnapping tactics to harass us,” said Ashraf. “The government has shown its true colours as it has tried to deceive the public regarding the status of doctors in the hospitals.”
Doctors at public hospitals in Lahore were meant to submit their resignations en masse today, after over 2,200 of their colleagues in Rawalpindi and Faisalabad resigned on Friday. It appears, however, that many have been unable to do so out of fear of being arrested.
Punjab government spokesperson Pervez Rasheed denied that any doctors had been arrested. Police officials in Lahore also denied having taken any physicians into custody.
Under the Emergency Services Ordinance of 2002, doctors are not allowed to go on strike. Hence, their only option to protest their working conditions is to resign, which is what many of them have attempted to do.
Junior doctors have been protesting since March 1 for an increase in their salaries. Negotiations between the Punjab government and the YDA broke down on March 31 over the issue of senior registrars’ salaries. The YDA insisted that their salaries be increased to Rs50,000 per month (from the current Rs30,000 per month) but the Punjab government argued that it cannot do so.
Meanwhile, the vice-chancellor of the King Edward Medical College cancelled the spring break for fifth-year medical students and ordered them to report for duty at the hospital’s emergency rooms.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 03rd, 2011.
Read more:
doctorstrike
Reader Comments (29)
Pakistan Latest Stories
Imran Khan takes oath as MNA
Imran had missed the official oath-taking ceremony on June 1 on grounds of ill health.
New businesses: Two arrested for issuing false fitness certificates
Fake OGRA regional office busted.
Save the children: Two more lives lost to measles in Faisalabad
Death toll since January in the district reaches 48.
Post budget conference: ‘Finance commission after local government election’
Finance minister lets finance secretary, do the talking.
Other Narrative: Relatives of man killed in police encounter protest
Hussain, 25, held no criminal record.
Preventive measures: Hyd commissioner inspects LBOD embankments
The commissioner had inspected the LBOD and Dhoro Puran in Badin and Mirpurkhas.
Appointment: ‘Ahad Cheema not qualified to head LDA’
Petition filed to challenge the appointment.
Streamlining expenditure: Revenue authority in the works for K-P
The bill states the authority would be a corporate body, having perpetual succession.
Opposing the budget: Rabbani says new budget promotes crony capitalism (National)
PPP comes out with 25 recommendations, amendments including withdrawing sales tax, revising regressive salary taxation
Recent Slideshows
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, redistributed or derived from.
Unless otherwise stated, all content is copyrighted © 2013 The Express Tribune News Network.
Technical feedback? [email protected]
hi none of the administration is supporting us and vice chancellor has asked medical students , basic sciences demonstrators to work in emergency but he cant support young doctors in their demands as he might offend his khadim-e-aala after all he is the junior most vice chancellor and he has by passed rules so he has to do that , besides he asked all young doctors male and female to vacate their hostels as they are terminated ,, touche and he never gets tired of saying that all young doctors are like his children and he will always be them , bravo sir we need teachers like you to remind us always who we areup against Recommend
besides government is hiring paramedics , dispensors , students from botany , zoology department to work in gov hospitals especially services , i wonder why dont ther hire vetrinary doctors after are for our government there is no difference between human beings and animals so they will better do the duty and problem of not having doctors will be solved and at least they will be qualified doctors , so what if they are trained for animalsRecommend
These marauding hoardes who call themselves “doctors ” should be sacked immediately .
( I wish I had the chance to kick these peopel out ! )
Yes i have the right to be heard , my “say ” has to be counted . I pay quarter of a million of my hard earned money to the Govt as Witheld Tax from my pay check and these so called doctors are fed upon my hard earned money , for what ?
To get the licence to kill poor child , men and women ?
Is their moentary gain is so important than a child ?
Go Shahbaz Sharif , kick them out . Recommend
@Salman Orangiwala:
1st of all u r nt the oly one to pay tax doctors also pay taxes to currupt govt. 2nd u can afford to give loosing illetrate match fixing cricket players millions of rupees just for one match and call them heros and u can afford to select rulers who snatch everything from u and spend millions daily on themselves and u select them again and again, u can afford to give thousands daily to bribe currupt police but u cant give a hardworking doctor his honest earning,, thats just amazing. and for ur information there i no need to kick doctors out as thousands of doctors are leaving every year and soon ur country ll be with only a few low class doctors all quality doctors ll be gone abroad and ur whole health system ll be collapsed. hope then u ll be satisfied when there is neither someone to protest nor to treat patients.Recommend
People should do social boycott of these so called Doctors.
They are behaving as animals. They deserve no mercy. Govt should take stringent action against these blood drinking draculas.
FIRs should be registered against them and their leaders. Recommend
Dear DR’s … Is there anything more important then human livesRecommend
As far as the public i would say who dont wants to work in emergency.We all want it.You have seen that the gov agreed to increase the pay and we returned to the emergency and wards in no time but then the KHAADIM E AALA backed out of the promise.We all have resigned from our jobs and ll look for any other jobs instead of being doctors.Then the punjab CM along with the team of his corrupt cabinet can sit in the hospitals and can run it as he likes.Pakistani doctors remain in pakistan just because they are patriots and our brothers have gone abroad enjoying all the facilities plus pay of about 2,50,000PKR minimum.We ll do the same and then you ppl along with the CM can run the whole system.Good luck for the future.Recommend
I know human life is more important.that’s why we handed over emergencies to MS and senior doctors and given time to ur favourite GOVT a duration of more than one month to decide that we the most intectual person shud be treated with reasonable pay.but All in vain.U ppl all come to know even for ECG ur favorite politician go to abroad on ur tax money.but u can’t understand caz u abuse doctors who treated u and ur mom and dad.u ppl don’t have mind caz u select those abt whome u know are corrupt Recommend
@waqas:
Would you be ready to accept responsibility for loss of lives. You are merciless and shameless killers.
I believe government should stand firm and strip striking doctors from their jobs and degrees.Recommend
@Asad:
So your demands are more valuable then human lives? a killer is a killer whosoever he used to be.. treating one or many persons cannot absolve sins of killing innocent.
Sharam tum ko; magar nahin aatiRecommend
The people of Pakistan, Punjab and the KHAADIM E AALA think that all these doctors were born to serve them without asking for their own rights. Has anyone from the public asked what the doctors are demanding? They are demanding to be treated as human beings with dignity! Otherwise all of them have options to go to other countries and get paid better. I have lived in several countries including a long time in the US and have met many Pakistan doctors. One of the reasons for leaving Pakistan that they told me was the treatment they got from patients and management alike, there is no respect in being a doctor in Pakistan anymore.Recommend
great i salute to all those passionate , angels who suddenly think that doctors are killers i dont want to take names but aal those who say that doctors should be killed , their social boycot should be done , they should be kicked , i just want to know how mant times they have worked without pay , how many times they have donated blood to save a person , how many times they have stopped by on the road after seeing an accident . its very easy to sit on a computer and pass judgement, what do u expect doctors should do ? we had been working without pay for most of our training , most of us are still working without pay , how should they survive , all those missionaries who value life more than money , can i ask them how much r they earning and how much of that earning they are spending on poor people , its because of these thaikaydars of society who consider passding judgement on people their prime right that we were forced to do so , why u have never spoken when doctors are dragged and beaten in emergencies , when they work non stop like robots , we dont need ur agreement because ur comments show ur sense of understanding and i bet whatever ur profession is , if we get the chance to comment abt that , we would say the same abt u guysRecommend
why doctors try to show that they r the least paid professionals in the country???ever seen chartered accountants going on strikes while they r paid 6500 per month for 3.5 years training??its a doctors mafia that is morally & professionally bankrupt.Recommend
Sorry to say, but all these people who claim to “pay quarter of a million” of their “hard earned” money to the Govt as Withheld Tax from their pay checks, did we EVER question where do they get “millions” as their pay checks from? Never! Because WE, the educated class, would never stoop so low as these hypocrites! These people, who i bet worked their way up just like their beloved leaders, don’t have a clue what the doctors do to save a person’s life. What kind of criminally-inclined people they have to deal with every day who threaten to kill them or physically assault them if they don’t save the life of their almost-dead patient, all the while being the only hindrance between the doctor and the patient. Oh no, they wouldn’t know how to work in extremes of conditions, the so called “GODS” who are giving the verdict to kill doctors, calling them blood-sucking draculas (btw, u know any dracula that doesn’t drink blood :p~)!!!! I ask these “millionaires” if they are so sure that a doctor can manage in 22k only, are they willing to share a mere quarter of their salary with any poor patient?? They wouldn’t. Because these filthy-minded money making machines are only concerned with their own frikkin selves. They are just men of words, not men of honor. They are saying all this because they are paid to do so! If they think they cant see the patients suffering, why don’t they spend some money and send these patients to private hospitals to be treated! We never claimed to be Gods (Nauzubillah). We are only humans, with needs and desires, most of which we killed after choosing to serve, but now its not about fulfilling desires anymore. Its just about striving to live. If the public thinks that 22,000 is enough to last a month, then everyone should be paid the same amount! Why shud we be the sufferers only. We are not fighting, we are not being stubborn, we just wanna be heard!!!!! Recommend
@Salman Orangiwala:
so you are worried about the quarter of a million tax you pay. excuse me when did you see any of it being spent on docotrs. and you think we are not tax payers. you are asking shahbaz sharif the illiterate, igonarant person who owns steel mills and suger mills and own buisness of refined sugar in foreign countries all made out of blood n flesh of this country to kick ut the hard working, educated skilled community of doctors. has it occured to you what made this community of peaceful hard working doctors that they were forced to come out on roads. did you ever talk to any doctor working in government tertiary hospitals or specialising. i wish i had been earning so much money to pay quarter of a million as tax. i who as a doctor is one of the most learned and skilled community of professionals. not only giving our manual labor but also finest of skills and mental energies to this profession. you all are speaking the language of politicians those who are not even content with bleeding this country to death. You think we studied for free in medical colleges?? just because half of the nation cudnt get admissions in medical college they shud not take revenge from us for being the best minds in nation. so you hav a “say” and it counts. ever thought these thousands of doctors also pay tax fro their minimal wages and also have a right to have their “say” heard. well i can be abusive but i am here to represent doctors so aint gonna do so. my integrity as a doctor asks me not to reply you in same manner.
you have very high expectations from shahbaz sharif. you hav any idea how many years hav gone since we hav been requesting government to give us a structured system and pay package. tell me out of all crises that we are facing in pakistan nd in province your CM had only mind to go and welcome the team that lost the match. its been over a month that we hav not been working in opds and are attending patients outside hospitals on street and three days since we hav stopped working in emergencies and yet not a single minister or cainet member or Cm himself considered it important enuf to save ailing patients by talking to doctors abt the issues. and yet he takes whole of his cabinet to airport to welcome and greet a team that lost in match miserably adn announced prize money for each of them. from YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY TAX. it s how its being spent not on doctors or patients but on publicity stunts.
have u seen any politician or buisnessman announcing rewards or awards to doctors or scientists or mathematicians?? no sir why shud they. why shud they make people who are better than them in every way better socially. do you know thta after studying and working for 5 years getting a degree of MBBS what does a house officer gets in the name of pay?? do you know how much each exam and book costs us?? dont you think doctors are humans and hav families with human needs too?? then half the doctors work without pay in house job free labour while spending 56 hours in emergencies in a row without sleep water and fresh air. then once they start post graduate training again they are lucky if they are paid any stipend. half of them work again without pay. and those who get the pay is so minimal that often we are dependent on our families to support us. above all once your traing as specialist is complete you are not only jobless but pennyless too. then you get fellowship the most prestigious degree in any part of world you dont have seats or jobs available. and then people like you can write all sort of crap about us and others will accept it. have you ever spent 56 hours awake in tertiary care hospital without food, drinking water, in stiffling heat or killing cold with few thousands as pay at the end of month. definitely not. or you wudnt talk like that,
anyway i hardly hope its gonna hav any effect on you. so you guys care abt patients as theya re humans. what about us doctors. we also happen to be humans with basic human rights. and its the young doctors that run hospitals and save people lives all over the world thats why they are among most highly paid professionals all over the world with security adn dignity. and nobody can abuse them or slap them to their pleasure as people do inemergencies all the time.
anyway i can give you more facts if u hav a mind to really KNOW. but its a fun for everyone to point fingers at doctors without seeing the blood on their own sleeves. and who s gonna heal the healers??Recommend
@ASQ:
Doctors dont LIKE to show the fact is they are the least paid professionals among all. talking of chartered accountants sitting in lavish offices, with pays upto rupees 65 000, with cars, phones, medical benefits and other special packages for each special service they render while their shirts stay starched. let s see this picture. 5 year MBBS + One year house job (mostly unpaid if paid its 12000 rupees/ month for 56 hours in a rowin emergency without an office or proper sitting place, without water and food and often without fan in summer and without heater in winter) + 4-5 year training as specialist + FCPS degree = 22000 rupees if paid job for only till your training last. after this this most learned highly qualified and most skilled of all professionals is penniless jobless broke. and this Fellowship holder doctor works in emergencies full of dust mosquitoes and bugs without any insurance or single medical benefit. imagine those who treat and provide medical services to nation are not given a single tablet free as medical benefit. nobody covers any medical or treatment costs for us. n then if there s an emergency and we provide emergency services we are not given any special allowance for that or even acknowledgement. it is us doctors who not only treat the patients but also bear all kind of verbal n physical abuse cos the attendants are “worried” for patients so they hav a right to insult us cos only “patients” are humans. and doctors are not humans. they should work like donkeys but when it comes to pay they shud act like angels or gods with no human needs. and i am surpried what mafia are you talking about. what about the media mafia on payrole of government , judiciary mafia again on payrole of politicians and politician mafia.
anyway. i know nothing s gonna change ur opinion cos this nation has reached the level of apathy for others that its incurable. nobody stops and thinks what happened to doctors that they after years of suffering in silence are out on road.
well those who are outside cant really KNOW specially whenthey dont want to. its always easy to abuse rather than help or support or correct something.Recommend
@Fahed Pervez:
no there s nothing more important han human lives. thats why we are out there to try to save the HUman lives of all doctors and hence all patients. if healer is ailing who s gonna heal the healer?? save your doctor save your patient. you cant ask a tired stressed care worn doctor to make your patient happy?? DOcotrs too happen to be HUMANS right??Recommend
@Ahmed:
like u have done miracles for this country, thousands of doctors work without pay what have u done for this nation. oh ya i remember u chose these currupt politicians to enjoy life on peoples hard earned money. did anyone protested when CM gave 500000 to each of loosing illetarate criket players who are already earning millions and u call them heroes. did u ever save a human life. and 2ndly u are asking for strict actions against doctors , what exactly do u mean by that kill them, arrest them or kick them out of this country which i think is best option for doctors too. so after removing 20000 doctors what u gonna do , place zoologists and ward boys for human life treatment i guess. gud luck with that. we all 20000 doctors are ready to go to jail and let u run the hospital see what u can do and hw much u can serve nation.Recommend
@Dr Zahra
you sure are heartless to see that dead baby in the picture and still lecture us on “Ooh Iam so poor ” mantra.Shame on you doctors.Recommend
Very nice pic by Muhammad TahirRecommend
Lets start with a clear mind — doctors need good pays because there are a lot of social pressures on them just like anyone else. Yes they get money from the taxpayers and no its not important for the discussion how these taxpayers get their millions. Another thing that is importnant to understand is that every job has its own demands and priveledges — cant compare CA or MBA with Doctors. The chartered accountants do not deal directly with human life, THE DOCTORS DO. I believe that rather than taking sentimental views, the rationality should prevail on both sides. If it is all about money — and this right now seems to be the only point — the PGs and HOs are the worst sufferers — they have long working shift and make the first contact with the patients, so they should be compensated for their grievances. I believe that right now most of the wards of the govt hospitals have good training programs with good number of PGs and HOs — what with the USMLE and PLAB have been made problemetic, AMC is also restricting its offer for foriegn doctors and UAE and Saudians are known for their bad behavior towards young doctors — so there is less trend for the doctors to move out.
On the other side if we look at the data — strikes are ususlly not observed in Emergency Departments. Non emergency strikes are common in western countries as well. It may or may not increase mortality but there is lot of bias in these studies.
I believe that once emergencies were closed down — this strike lost its ethical leverage. Now its the public that is in trouble, paying through their suffering relatives through no fault of their own.
It would make sense to me that PGs and HOs should accept the pay package and get the assurance that after the budget the senior faculty will get the same package in form of a formal notification. As far as I have seen the senior registrars and above are already drawing a lot better pays — an example would be an SR who started in 2006 — would be drawing a pay of around 45000 – 50000 because of all the increments since then.
In the end I do believe that Any patient who dies in emergency these days, his resposibility is shared by all the doctors who had the responsibility to save him.Recommend
If I knew this is going to happen with doctors,
I would have liked to fly kites, play snooker, do private BA and be a constable in Police.23000 is what they getting and nobody is calling Policemen “Dracula”. ;-pRecommend
if it was only money we wanted, we had a choice to choose professions other than medicine with the assurance that we would get into it without a second thought with us being crème de la crème of the nation
if we were inhuman, we would not have tended to each patient with the same vigor like we do even after being thoroughly insulted, sometimes physically threatened, by their attendants and relatives…
if we were as callous as the government portrays us to be, we would not be humbly asking to be heard, we would be doing that with guns in hand …
if it was just a degree to us, we would be sitting at the politicians seat and flaunting “the degree” like the most politicians have made a trend to do these days
we just want to LIVE.. and live respectfully and with dignity.. we want security.. we want to be treated equally – equal to the level that such education deserves!!!
yes, every life that is lost in emergency these days, its responsibility is shared by all doctors, government, AND all the people who can “afford” to help provide treatments of these people from a private hospital.. everyone is involved just as much as the doctors are.. alas, your money could have saved their life..-
Recommend
if it was only money we wanted, we had a choice to choose professions other than medicine with the assurance that we would get into it without a second thought with us being crème de la crème of the nation
if we were inhuman, we would not have tended to each patient with the same vigor like we do even after being thoroughly insulted, sometimes physically threatened, by their attendants and relatives…
if we were as callous as the government portrays us to be, we would not be humbly asking to be heard, we would be doing that with guns in hand …
if it was just a degree to us, we would be sitting at the politicians seat and flaunting “the degree” like the most politicians have made a trend to do these days
we just want to LIVE.. and live respectfully and with dignity.. we want security.. we want to be treated equally – equal to the level that such education deserves!!!
yes, every life that is lost in emergency these days, its responsibility is shared by all doctors, government, AND all the people who can “afford” to help provide treatments of these people from a private hospital.. everyone is involved just as much as the doctors are.. alas, your money could have saved their life..
Recommend
I am realy sorry for all those people who just pass their comments fro AC Rooms and keypad ahead. No one realising that gravity of the matter. Being a doctor, i have done 72 hrs of continuos duty in this setup here at the time when people were enjoying EID. After my 24 hrz emergency i came out and saw people going for EID prayer, it remind me my family, hundreds of miles away, but was hungry, i didnt find any hotel opend so just went and slept in the ward, at night find some buiscuts and mild, the next day i had again to go to emergency and kept with same service. No one amongst all of you passing comments to doctor came to ask me that if you are hungry here. Still i had to do my duty as i am a poor doctor, my destiny is tn help those people who wil just make fun of it, just to call me a killer, to kick me out.. For god sack, just stop blaming us if you ca’nt help us.. We wil leave this country, wil look for another job or will die but dont expect further of us.Recommend
@dr shinwari
No Sir ,you are not realizing the gravity of the situation.
Protest is one thing,but because of you people,lives are being lost.
I just wonder if any one of your brothers ,sisters and parents need emergency and your comrades refuse attention to them-only then you people will understand the suffering you are causing to others.Recommend
@ MISS COLDCOFFEE
You don’t even have the courage to disclose your name and are passing judgement as what?? Did any of your family member lose his life?? Do u know anyone who did? Did u go and check what is going on in the hospitals or did u believe what the media mafia told you and started passing judgments?? Do you know the stats of how many deaths occur in a day when the patients are brought to the hospital??? Not because of doctor’s negligence but because they were already almost dead when they were brought in! Do your home work first and then comment!!!!Recommend
Did any of public person commenting ever visited any govt hospital as patient. For who do so and not only relying upon media which is not allowed by your beloved govt to enter inside emergency is not closed or locked by doc any where and actually are run by ur favourite senior doctors which you always asked for if you visit. As for as we cocerned we knew that they (sr. docs) are doing long duties for last 72 hrs and not being appreciated rather routine deaths are labelled as because of strike. If it is so why your beloved govt deny it why not make a committee to find out truth. Is it matter of only 150-250 doctors why not your beloved govt dismiss them or kick as you wish.Sir is it only doctors responsibility to serve do you know if doctor family member is sick he have to buy medicie from market where as a lawyer not even in govt service is allowed free treatment but will charge even your beloved govt for any case ,any reporter from a third class paper will get it as well.
Do you think doctors dont live in this world they or their family are not human being. WE dont want to stop patient check up but where was the civil society when only opd was off and patients were seen out side and you all are enjoying world cup mania. salary may be the issue in begning but it is now resistance against the badmashi and threat mafia Recommend
@huda
I think you didnt saw the Picture with the caption.
” A woman holds her baby, who died because doctors at Allied Hospital in Faisalabad were on protest. ”
If you think the baby was already dead ,then kindly ask the Tribune to pull off the pic.Recommend