Strike woes: Waste piles up in Hazara hospitals

Protesting staff warn of prolonging their boycott as govt refuses to accept their demands

ABBOTTABAD: With a strike by technical, clerical staff and class-iv employees of hospitals across the Hazara division entering a fourth consecutive day, the miseries of patients have literally piled up in the form of uncollected solid waste.

Technical staff including plumbers, technicians, sanitary staff, ward orderlies and security guards had gone on strike on Monday following a decision by their provincial body to protest against the provincial government’s refusal to grant the staff Health Professional Allowance – paid to doctors, nurses, paramedics and pharmacists.



While the strike was initially supposed to be for four days, the body had later extended the strike until April 11 after the provincial government did not accept their demands of paying them Health Professional Allowance (HPA).

However, an impasse appeared after the government refused to concede to the demands while the protesting employees were unwilling to call off their strike.

Owing to the strike, sanitary conditions, security issues, dealing the patients in the Operation Theaters and OPDs and other routine matters were being affected at hospitals across the division.

A visit to the ATH, the division’s biggest tertiary care health facility, it was observed that the wards, corridors and emergency departments were littered with solid and medical waste since sanitary workers have not been collecting and disposing of the waste.



Hospital sources said that every day around three to four cart-loads of solid waste are generated from the different departments of the hospital. Moreover, 20 to 25 kilogrammes of hazardous waste are produced from the 100 or so surgeries which take place at the hospital daily.

However, owing to the strike by the sanitary staff, the waste was not being collected or disposing of, exposing patients to multiple threats and the infections.

The dirty floors and lavatories in the wards and other departments were presenting a chaotic picture of the hospital.

Moreover, the absence of ward orderlies has made it difficult for doctors to manage a large number of patients and their attendants visiting outpatient and emergency departments.



“It is really difficult for doctors to force the patients to form queues for physicians,” said Dr Daud at the ATH, adding that the four-day strike by over 700 employees of ATH and AMC, had added to their difficulties.

ATH Medical Director Dr Salim Afzal confirmed that the security and sanitation situation had worsened over the last four days owing to the strike.

To a question, Dr Afzal termed the strike by ATH’s staff as unlawful and unjustified adding that the ATH’s administration had been paying those who were protesting between Rs3,000 to Rs4,000 every month ever since the provincial government decided to pay HPA to doctors, nurses and paramedics.

He argued that the hospital staff which was staging protests had nothing to do with services provided directly to patients.

He hoped that the situation would improve from Friday since the provincial government had decided to take some stringent measures against the protesters.

KKH blocked

On Thursday, protesting staff from the Ayub Teaching Hospital and Ayub Medical College blocked the Karakoram Highway for about 30 minutes while announcing their plans to extend their protest from one to two hours every day until their demands were accepted.

They further warned that they would forcibly stop emergency services at the hospital from Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2017.