Doctors block road outside LRH

Demand inclusion in a specialization training programme

PESHAWAR: A large number of doctors and other medical practitioners in the city on Tuesday blocked a key thoroughfare and staged a protest rally over their exclusion from a specialisation training.

Participants of the rally gathered outside the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) on Tuesday morning. After the LRH administration called in the police to manage the situation and guard the gates of the hospital, the doctors marched from the hospital to the Soray Bridge. Due to their demonstration, traffic on the road was suspended, causing problems for motorists.

The protesters said that the postgraduate medical institute had issued orders to train just 385 doctors while depriving more than 900 doctors of the training despite clear directions from the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC).

They asserted that the deadline for induction into the specialisation training was January 31, and unless they are all allowed to avail it, they could end up wasting an entire year.

The demonstrators claimed that only trainee doctors were being hired in medical teaching institute (MTI) hospitals, while seats for them have also been reduced.

The government is not serious in resolving the issues faced by the doctors, they complained, adding that no policy has been formulated for doctors who are going to sit in and clear exams which are scheduled to be held in February and September.

They urged the government to increase the number of seats for specialisation training and to induct all those doctors who have cleared the pre-requisite exam.

Further, they demanded that the government issue non-objection certificates (NOC) which will allow doctors to practice in other provinces.

The protest was finally called off in the afternoon after which traffic resumed on the road.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2020.