Hospitals remain hostage to YDA medics

Senior doctors and authorities struggle to make facilities operational

LAHORE: Hospitals around Punjab remained handicapped on Thursday as young doctors continued to try and force the government’s hand to accept their demands.

Through the help of senior professors and medics, authorities tried their best to make hospitals operational. However, the three-day long YDA strike was a huge blow as conditions of ailing patients were deteriorating.



The Services and Jinnah hospitals were the most affected as hundreds of people were sent back without treatment from the OPDs.

“I came here for the medical checkup of my daughter who has chickenpox,” says Umer Liaqat from Patuki. “Despite waiting for several hours, we had to return,” he added.

He further stated only a handful of doctors were available for the medical treatment of hundreds of patients. “These doctors should be arrested because they are maligning the noble medical profession,” he stated.



Committee formed

The health department has formed a committee to probe the deaths of two patients in Faisalabad, but the fact that it has not yet compiled a report has raised question marks.

It also emerged that two patients, one at Services hospital and one from Faisalabad, died due to the doctors’ strike. However, there has been no action against the young doctors, thus far.

Humayun Faiz Rasool, a lawyer of the Supreme Court, told The Express Tribune that this was criminal negligence. He said thousands of patients were suffering and these doctors must be arrested under the West Pakistan Essential Service Act 1971.”

A high-placed source in the health department said the government did not intend to register a case against these doctors as it increased the chances of turmoil in the provincial capital. He added the YDA leadership was nominated in mega corruption scandals over the last few months, but the government was still reluctant to  act against its members.

At the same time, a health department spokesman said the formed committees are doing their best to submit a report and the department will deal with the culprits according to their findings.

“We are taking extraordinary efforts to allow hospitals to function smoothly,” he said. The spokesperson added that these young doctors should understand that people are dying on hospital beds due to their negligence. “They must be dealt with,” he concluded.

Talking to The Express Tribune, YDA Punjab President Dr Maroof Vance said the allegations that people are dying due to the doctors’ strike are baseless.  He also raised some questions over the healthcare department’s commitment to helping poor people.



He asked why the government was not increasing the health budget. He stated only Rs561 was being spent per person in Punjab. Vance also points out that there is not one fully equipped ICU or cardio and burns units in Punjab.

“BHUs around Punjab are in miserable condition and that is the reason the people prefer to come for treatment to Lahore.”

Vance said that due to the Central Induction Policy, more than 400 MBBS students were not able to get admission in specialised disciplines. He asked why authorities failed to implement the one patient, one attendant policy.

“Every year hundreds of doctors go abroad, why is that?” He also questioned the government’s failure to check the supply of substandard medicines in government hospitals.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2017.