Doctors thrash patient for 'late trip' to emergency ward in Islamabad hospital

Attendant’s finger broken in fight; protests over ED continue

ISLAMABAD: Doctors at Polyclinic allegedly thrashed a patient and his attendant after they made a late night trip to the emergency ward.

Shakeel Ahmed, a resident of Shamsabad, Rawalpindi, was admitted in the hospital with acute pancreatitis. He said that late on Thursday night, he was shifted to the surgical ward from emergency and at around midnight, he felt sharp pains in his upper abdomen.

He said his brother, who was there as his attendant went to contact the administration to call a doctor. He said that after the first call, they waited for a doctor for over half-an-hour but no one turned up. They then approached the doctor through the admin and after a while, Dr Gul Muhammad turned up and misbehaved with the patient and the attendant.



According to Ahmed, when his brother told him to be sympathetic and reminded him of his duty, the two men got into a verbal altercation. Dr Muhammad, who is also the Young Doctors’ Association (YDA) Polyclinic chapter general secretary, called some other doctors and they allegedly attacked the attendant and broke his finger.

Hospital administration staffers were able to intervene and shifted the patient to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the surgical ward.

“Dr Muhammad was furious over having to take a late night call and he started banging at my abdomen repeatedly,” Ahmed told The Express Tribune.

“When I objected to his aggressive manner, he started swearing at me, forcing my brother to intervene,” Ahmed said, adding that the other doctors stormed the ward soon after and started kicking and punching his brother.

Someone in the hospital called the Aabpara police, but by the time the police reached the hospital — barely two minutes walk from the hospital — the doctors had left the hospital.

Later, the victim filed an application with the police against the doctors, but withdrew it. Shakil said that he was a small vendor and could not afford to pursue a police and court case.

Dr Muhammad was previously accused of thrashing a Polyclinic security guard who asked the doctor for proof of his identity at an entrance walkthrough gate.



YDA strike continues   

On Saturday, the YDA boycott of outpatient departments (OPDs) at Polyclinic entered the third day on Saturday, as paramedical staff and nurses dissociated themselves from it.

Doctors boycotted the OPDs from 9am to 11am to demand the revocation of transfer order of Executive Director Dr Raja Amjad Mahmood.

Polyclinic Nursing Association President Nazir Ahmed said that the Joint Action Committee (JAC) had been disbanded and a few elements were misusing its name. He added that even if it did still exist, the JAC and YDA would still have no justification to boycott OPDs on the pretext of postings.

Polyclinic Staff Welfare Committee President Raja Ilyas said that JAC was formed to restore the health risk allowance for doctors and paramedical staff and has nothing to do with the current boycott. He claimed that the YDA has also brought in protesters from PIMS and other hospitals. He said the Polyclinic management should take legal action against the outsiders.

Ilyas said that nobody opposed Dr Mahmood when he was transferred to Polyclinic as postings and transfers are part and parcel of government service.

Sources at the hospital claimed that Dr Mahmood used to extend favours to some doctors including YDA President Dr Sartaj Ali. According to the sources, Dr Mahmood’s posting has agitated those who had vested interests in him staying on.

Polyclinic’s new ED The sources also said that Dr Mahmood would order postings and transfers of doctors and other paramedical staff at the behest of some YDA members.Dr Iftikhar Ahmed Naru said that a few young doctors were protesting while senior doctors were all doing their jobs. He said that he has conveyed to the protesting doctors that if they had any reservation regarding transfer of Dr Mahmood, they should be presented in writing so that he may pass them on to the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2016.