More to come from doctors: Substitutes take over as YDA vows to up the ante

Some young doctors also reported to work, while senior doctors continue to perform duties.

RAWALPINDI:

Over 3,000 patients were examined at the OPDs of Rawalpindi’s three allied hospital on Tuesday by senior, army and newly-inducted doctors. 

Members of Young Doctors Association (YDA, on the other hand, continued their strike on the 16th day and did not attend outdoor patient departments (OPDs) and indoor patient departments at Holy Family (HFH), Benazir Bhutto (BBH) and District Headquarters (DHH) hospitals .

A visit to HFH revealed it was not easy for the newly-inducted and army doctors to deal with the increasing number of patients visiting OPDs, owing primarily to the hot weather. As many as 1,267 patients were examined at HFH, 1,250 at BBH and over 1,000 at DHQ by doctors as YDA continued its boycott.

Discussions with doctors on duty further revealed that senior doctors were also uneasy with the situation. We are performing our duties but are not happy with the way the Punjab government is treating protesting doctors, said a senior doctor.

A senior registrar said doctors were not ready to tolerate torture and arrests by Punjab police and if the government failed to deal with the issue, senior doctors could also publicly express their anger.

Meanwhile, an administrator at HFH said new doctors were inexperienced, while army doctors had not dealt with civilians before and were finding it hard to cope with the increasing number of patients.

BBH Medical Superintendent Dr Asif Qadir Mir informed the media that the numbers of protesting doctors attending their duties vary as YDA representatives discourage them from attending patients at OPDs. He hoped the situation would improve in the coming days as all patients were attended to on Tuesday. Some 30 protesting doctors were on duty at BBH and the administration was hopeful others would follow their example.

When contacted, Rawalpindi Medical College Principal Dr Mussadaq Khan said all senior doctors were on duty. He was of the view that the addition of new and army doctors and medical practitioners from rural areas has eased the situation at tertiary hospitals in the city.

Replying to a question, Dr Khan said he was hopeful the Punjab government would resolve the crisis.

Meanwhile, YDA representatives in Rawalpindi expressed their resolve to intensify their protest after the ‘cruel’ attitude of the police with their colleagues in Lahore.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2012.