Doctors protest against ‘brutal patients’ at Services Hospital

Medics demand security after an attack on one of their peers.

LAHORE: Scores of junior doctors protested outside the Services Hospital on Wednesday against the “brutal aggression of patients” and demanded security at emergency wards.

As a result of the demonstration, hospital OPDs were badly affected and hundreds of patients had to return without getting the necessary treatment. Talking to the media, YDA office bearer Dr Atif recalled an incident which took place on Tuesday night when one Dr Junaid was critically injured after being assaulted by attendants of a patient.



“We have repeatedly asked for the implementation of a one patient, one attendant policy, but all our demands have gone in vain,” he said. He further stated the government must deploy security guards at all important locations of the hospital, otherwise incidents will continue repeating themselves.



He stated that on the one hand, the government is going to privatise hospitals and on the other is reluctant to improve the healthcare system. “Actually it is not among their priorities,” he said. Dr Atif warned that if the system was not improved, YDA would go on a province-wide strike.

Meanwhile, the Jinnah Hospital young doctors also protested and tried to close down OPDs by force. In their statement, the doctors strongly condemned the administration of JHL for “massive financial and administrative corruption”. They warned the administration and secretariat to stop harassing women doctors and medical staff. The medics also wanted inquiries against the victimisation of doctors.

They said that the administration was just plotting against the hard working doctors of JHL through “tyrannical steps”. The doctors concluded that if such actions were not curtailed, there would be a full blown protest followed by an OPD and indoor strike.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2017.