Hospital security: Nishtar doctors boycott emergency, carry weapons

A patient’s relatives beat up 20 doctors, ransacked emergency ward on Monday.

MULTAN:

Doctors on Tuesday boycotted work at the Nishtar Hospital emergency ward. Some of them also carried weapons and were accompanied by private guards.

On Monday, relatives of a patient had beaten up as many as 20 doctors for alleged negligence. They had ransacked the emergency ward and fired gunshots.

The Young Doctors Association (YDA) Punjab on Tuesday issued a call for a strike to be observed at OPDs at all of the province’s hospitals to protest the “brutal torture of doctors at the Nishtar Hospital.”

Sheikh Abdul Samad, a resident of Wood Market, was hit by a bus on Monday afternoon. He was taken to Nishtar Hospital emergency ward from where he was referred for a CT scan. When the hospital’s CT scan machine was found to be out of order, he was referred to a private clinic.

He was taken to the clinic where the test could not be completed due to a long queue. He died during the return journey to Nishtar Hospital.

Sheikh Rauf, a brother of the deceased, said doctors did not pay attend to the patient for five hours. “The doctors are responsible for my brother’s death,” he said. “We protested against their negligence.”

During the protest, the doors, windows and medical equipment at the emergency ward were damaged. Nurses and paramedical staff fled as some of the men shot bullets.

Dr Sami Akhtar, the Nishtar Medical College principal and Nishtar Hospital Medical Superintendent Javed Omar persuaded the demonstrators to disperseby giving assurances that action will be taken against any doctors found negligent.

Doctors on Tuesday boycotted the emergency ward. Some of the doctors carried weapons. Pakistan Medical Assocation (PMA) officials eventually persuaded them to disarm.

Dr Mazhar Chaudhry, president of the South Punjab YDA, told The Tribune the the patient had died on the way to hospital.

“We help where we can,” he said. He also said 17 of the injured doctors were YDA members.

“We have called for a complete boycott of work until we are assured of adequate security,” he said.

The Emergency Ward deputy medical superintendent Syeda Marium said an investigation into the incident had been started. “The facts of the matter will be put before the authorities concerned to pursue further,” she said.

Nishtar Medical College Principal Dr Sami Akhtar too said an inquiry had been ordered. “We have started work at the emergency ward with the available doctors. But the paramedical staff is not available,” he said.

He said all doctors’ associations, including the PMA were supporting the boycott.

City SP Mian Javed said police had controlled the situation on Monday.

“Nishtar Hospital authorities told us they will send us a report. They have neither lodged a case nor submitted a report on the matter.”

Kausar Parveen, the mother of a patient, said on Tuesday that poor people were suffering due to the boycott. She said she had been waiting four hours for a doctor to check her daughter [suffering from fever] but was now returning home.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2012.