YDA observes token strike at Children’s Hospital

Children’s Hospital is the only public facility in the city that caters exclusively to the healthcare of children.

LAHORE: Junior doctors observed a token strike on Tuesday against unannounced load-shedding during peak hours at the Children’s Hospital.

The doctors wore black armbands and demanded the government exempt the hospital from power outages, besides getting the air-conditioners fixed at OPD wards.

Children’s Hospital Young Doctors Association President Dr Umair Shafiq told the media that the air-conditioners went out of order last year and despite repeated requests, the administration did not bother to set them right.

The Children’s Hospital is the only public facility in the city that caters exclusively to the healthcare needs of children. It has 250 beds and around 3,000 patients visit the OPD every day. “When power goes off during peak working hours, one can imagine the sort of distress doctors and children face.”



A toddler’s father, who was visiting the hospital from Okara, said, “If people roam around the hallway for just five minutes, they can understand the misery of newborns.”

“It is very disturbing to see the suffering of a month-old child in this sizzling weather. At the same time, officials and administrators enjoy the cool environment of their air-conditioned offices,” he said.

“We warn the government to fix air-conditioners immediately otherwise we will chalk out the future strategy to deal with the situation,” he added.

On the other hand, another YDA representative told The Express Tribune that the association intended to go on a strike around two months ago, but had to cancel its plan due to various reasons. These included the alleged involvement of Dr Altamash in the illegal kidney’s transplant scandal.

“Actually, they are trying to force the medical superintendent of the Children’s Hospital to accept their demands, including increment of pay scales, reduction of duty hours and increase in postgraduate residence seats etc,” he said.

The Punjab chief minister was scheduled to visit the Children’s Hospital during this week, he said, adding they planned to request him to accept their demands immediately otherwise they would go on strike.

“There is no need to call a strike as power was cut off due some internal electricity problems. The issue was fixed after three hours of hectic efforts, “he said.

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