YDA to go on strike from today

RAWALPINDI:

To protest against the recent transfers of doctors by the Punjab government, Young Doctors Association (YDA) has decided to go on strike from Monday (today).

YDA Rawalpindi President Dr Umer Saeed said all out patient departments (OPDs) of allied hospitals will remain closed during the strike. However, doctors would attend the patients in their hostels or in camps in open areas of the hospitals.

The main objective of the strike is to press the government to introduce proper service structures for doctors.

“The recent transfer of 450 doctors by the Punjab government has provided fresh impetus to the doctors’ struggle to get proper health services,” said Saeed.

He said the majority of doctors have been serving in BPS-17 and BPS-18 for the past many years in the absence of any promotion structure. “Under the current policy, only 1% of doctors serving in BPS-17 will reach BPS-20,” he explained.

According to Saeed, there is no clear transfer policy in the health department, due to which many specialists are transferred to rural areas where their expertise aren’t put to the best use.

Rawalpindi Medical College Principal Dr Musaddaq Khan said though there is no serious issue of transfers in Rawalpindi, senior doctors and registrars would be asked to attend to patients if doctors went on strike. He hoped the strike would not persist for a long period.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2012.