Healthcare emergency: Standoff between govt, doctors turns fatal

Heart patient dies at Mayo Hospital as doctors refuse to attend patients

LAHORE: The escalating standoff between the government and junior doctors took a deadly turn on Wednesday after a heart patient lost her life owing to the absence of medics at Mayo Hospital.

The hospital’s emergency and out-patient departments, which normally cater to at least 3,000 people daily, gave a desolate look Wednesday evening as the junior doctors continued their strike for the 14th consecutive day.

When the volunteers of Rescue 1122 came to Mayo with a woman on a stretcher and asked about doctors at the emergency ward, they were greeted by a few junior doctors and heavy contingents of policemen.

The rescuers were told to take the patient to some other hospital as the doctors at Mayo Hospital were on strike. Even when they said the woman was in a critical condition and needed immediate treatment, the doctors suggested shifting the patient to the ICU, where only one doctor was on duty.

Negligence

Hours earlier, this callous behaviour by the protesting doctors had resulted in the death of a heart patient at Mayo hospital.

Around noon, when Chaudhry Muhammad Sadiq was brought to the hospital from Gawal Mandi after suffering a severe heart attack, the doctors left him unattended. The patient died on a bed of the emergency department.



Rana Faisal, another patient, had been lying unattended on a bed since early morning. “I was involved in an accident in the morning and was shifted here by the rescuers. Since then, only a nurse has once given me a dose of some injection. No other doctor has come to see my wounds,” he lamented.

A similar situation was witnessed at Mayo Hospital’s child surgery emergency ward.

A young burns victim brought to the hospital from Sahiwal one day ago, had been left unattended since getting some initial treatment. The pain on his face gave the true picture of Lahore’s largest hospital.

“At least, the doctors should not have closed the emergency ward,” said Yasir, an elder brother of the child.

What’s going on?

An on-duty house officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the doctors had had several quarrels amongst them as well as patients and the hospital administration. The administration failed to restore emergency ward functions as the day ended.

He suggested the health department should register murder case against the negligent doctors to teach them a lesson or the doctors would continue with their protests.

The Mayo Hospital medical superintendent has issued notifications to the doctors to immediately resume their duties in their respective departments otherwise they would be terminated without any further notice. New doctors would be appointed against the vacant positions.

Another notification said the stipends of all absent doctors would be deducted for the last eight days.

An insider at Mayo told The Express Tribune that disciplinary action against those absent from duty was expected today (Thursday). “We will not tolerate neither accept the demands of those who have maligned the noble profession of medicine,” the official said. “Hundreds of patients have been left unattended. These [doctors] are hooligans, not doctors.”

The health department spokesman said the YDA had become a political party and wanted to destabilise the government. “We have constituted an inquiry committee to probe the death of Chaudhry Sadiq and will give exemplary punishment to those who were responsible for it.”

Spokesman of one of the YDA factions Dr Zafarullah said the hospital administration had started delivering notices to the protesting doctors. “We are standing united and will not step back from our demands,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2016.