Punjab govt agrees to raise salaries of doctors
Young Doctors' Association ends its boycott of indoor wards but continues strike in out patients department.
LAHORE:
The Punjab government on Sunday assured the Young Doctors Association (YDA) of raising salaries from the July 1, 2011, after negotiations in Lahore.
The decision was taken during a meeting between a 12-member delegation of doctors and Punjab Health Secretary Fawad Hassan at General Hospital.
Sources said the health secretary assured the delegation of the pay raise, adding that the decision will be finalised by May.
Hassan said the Punjab chief minister will make a formal announcement in this regard before the budget.
He urged the doctors to call off their strike which had crippled the operations in public hospitals for the last 18 days.
Updated from print edition (below)
Young doctors: Suspension notices help end indoor strike
The Young Doctors’ Association (YDA) has ended its boycott of indoor wards but would continue its strike in the out patients department.
The decision was reached late Friday night after the government agreed to withdraw the suspension notices issued for some YDA officials earlier. The meeting between the YDA delegation and the health secretary started at 9pm and went on till 1am.
The health secretary had reportedly asked the YDA to call off the strike if it wanted the government to revoke the suspension notices but settled for a resumption of work in indoor wards.
YDA Punjab president Hamid Butt said they would continue to organise outdoor camps so that the patients were not affected.
Another YDA official, Dr Rifqa Awan, said they had asked the health secretary to issue letters stating that the suspension notices had been revoked by Saturday morning.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 20th, 2011.
The Punjab government on Sunday assured the Young Doctors Association (YDA) of raising salaries from the July 1, 2011, after negotiations in Lahore.
The decision was taken during a meeting between a 12-member delegation of doctors and Punjab Health Secretary Fawad Hassan at General Hospital.
Sources said the health secretary assured the delegation of the pay raise, adding that the decision will be finalised by May.
Hassan said the Punjab chief minister will make a formal announcement in this regard before the budget.
He urged the doctors to call off their strike which had crippled the operations in public hospitals for the last 18 days.
Updated from print edition (below)
Young doctors: Suspension notices help end indoor strike
The Young Doctors’ Association (YDA) has ended its boycott of indoor wards but would continue its strike in the out patients department.
The decision was reached late Friday night after the government agreed to withdraw the suspension notices issued for some YDA officials earlier. The meeting between the YDA delegation and the health secretary started at 9pm and went on till 1am.
The health secretary had reportedly asked the YDA to call off the strike if it wanted the government to revoke the suspension notices but settled for a resumption of work in indoor wards.
YDA Punjab president Hamid Butt said they would continue to organise outdoor camps so that the patients were not affected.
Another YDA official, Dr Rifqa Awan, said they had asked the health secretary to issue letters stating that the suspension notices had been revoked by Saturday morning.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 20th, 2011.