Medics joining Covid fight face hardship

About 35% of recruits leave jobs in govt hospitals

LAHORE: The provincial authorities are trying to fill the gaps in treatment of coronavirus patients in government hospitals by recruiting medical professionals on the basis of daily wage.

So far, 200 medical professionals, including 70 doctors, 70 nurses and 60 paramedics, have been recruited.

According to the policy, a doctor’s monthly pay is Rs150,000 lump sum, paramedics Rs40,000 and nurse Rs60,000. A seven-day rest is granted after serving in coronavirus wards for seven consecutive days.

However, even emergency leave is not allowed and the rules include deduction of a whole month’s salary and dismissals on daily wage basis.

About 35% of the medical professionals who were offered the jobs have left their duties in disappointment over the harsh working conditions.

Dr Salman Haseeb Chaudhry, leader of the Grand Health Alliance of medical professionals said recruitment on a daily wage basis to meet the shortage of doctors, nurses and paramedics was like a joke with the nation.

If the government wants to work against coronavirus, it should spend the Rs16 billion sixteen billion allocated in the budget for the purpose on providing treatment and facilities to its patients, he said while talking to The Express Tribune.

He said recruitment of medical professionals as permanent employees should be carried out to cope with a pandemic like coronavirus.

On the other hand, health department officials said the medical professionals could not be recruited on a permanent basis in emergency because it took more than three months to comply with the departmental rules and regulations in this regard. However, the medical professionals working on daily wages also complained that the administrations of the hospitals where they are serving were not treating them well. In some hospitals, the rule of giving a break after a week of duty was not being implemented, they alleged.

A spokesperson for the health ministry said that maximum measures had been taken in government hospitals to control the spread of coronavirus, whose positive results had begun to come. As far as the recruitment of medical professionals and their facilities is concerned, it has been directly done by the Punjab government. The department and the ministry can only send recommendations. “However, protecting the lives and rights of the professionals serving in the coronavirus wards is one of our top priorities.”

About 1,500 doctors, 1,500 nurses and other staff are serving in the coronavirus isolation wards of the Mayo, Services, Lahore General and Jinnah hospitals, which are the major teaching hospitals in the provincial capital.

Of them, 672 doctors, 500 nurses and 700 paramedics are in self-quarantine on suspicion of coronavirus or after testing positive for the disease.

According to government policy, medical professionals treating coronavirus patients have to stay at home for 15 days after serving for every seven days but there is a shortage of staff to maintain this work cycle.

Dr Haseeb, who is Central President of the Young Doctors Association, said the four major teaching hospitals recently sent recommendations to the government to provide 1,000 new doctors immediately.

He said patients admitted to the general and other wards in the hospitals were also not receiving proper treatment because of the shortage of staff.

Punjab YDA Patron-in-Chief Dr Atif Chaudhry said that instead of small isolation wards in all hospitals, the government should set up a complete 3,000-bed coronavirus field hospital or dedicate at least three large teaching hospitals only for patients infected by the virus so that people suffering from other diseases also have access to treatment.

On the other hand, the provincial health minister said earlier that the government has started recruitments to deal with the pandemic.

However, only about 200 medical professionals have been recruited, while 1,000 are urgently needed.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2020.