Health department: 291 PG trainee seats ‘converted’

YDA Punjab sees Health Dept move as one that will ‘create problems’.

LAHORE:

More trouble might brew between the Punjab government and the Young Doctors Association (YDA) Punjab after the Health Department ‘converted’ 291 stipendiary posts of Post-Graduate Trainees (PGs) into Women Medical Officers (WMOs) and Medical Officers (MOs) posts.

According to a Health Department order, a copy of which is available to The Express Tribune, of the 291 PG trainee posts that have been converted, 255 are of WMOs and 36 of MOs.

YDA Punjab office bearers believe the reduced number of paid PG posts will create problems because more of them will have to work at hospitals without a stipend.

PG trainees get a stipend of at least Rs42,000 during their four-year training while doing FCPS or MS/MD in teaching hospitals.

As per the order, 43 posts of PGs have been converted into WMOs in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, 42 seats at Services Hospital, four at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology, 23 at Lahore General Hospital, 50 at Jinnah Hospital, 46 at Nishtar Hospital, Multan, one at CPE Institute of Cardiology in Multan, 22 at Bahawal Victoria Hospital in Bahawalpur, six at Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Rahim Yar Khan, 18 at Allied Hospital in Faisalabad, 22 at DHQ Hospital in Faisalabad, 10 at Benazir Bhutto Hospital Rawalpindi and four seats of PGs have been converted into posts of MOs and WMOs at Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi.

YDA Punjab Media Secretary Dr Mudassir Razaq Khan said many PGs were working for free due to a lack of seats in teaching hospitals. Converting their seats into WMOs and MOs posts will mean more doctors will work unpaid and that will create problems. “[Currently], there are 330 seats of PGs in Jinnah Hospital and 354 PGs are under training there. New PGs will come in January, which means many of them will have to work for free. This will just create problems,” Khan said. He said the Health Department needed to fire doctors, hired during the YDA Punjab strike, to accommodate PGs.

Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique said those who were inducted on merit couldn’t be denied their rights. If there are any issues on which the YDA has some reservations, Rafique said, the government officials will sit with them and resolve legitimate apprehensions of the doctors. He said both doctors and the Health Department needed to work for the welfare of patients.

Press conference

YDA Punjab’s newly elected office bearers held a press conference at the Services Hospital Hostel on Monday. Dr Javaid Aheer, the new YDA Punjab President, said the government had yet to form a high-level steering committee for the implementation of the new service structure.

He said many doctors were being victimised in different cities at the hands of local administration. He said 30 MOs in Gujranwala had not been given an extension “because they were members of the YDA.”

He alleged that salary of around 25 House Officers had also been stopped by the local administration.

The YDA office bearers also extended their support to the doctors in Balochistan and said the government should play its role to solve their problems.

New YDA office bearers

Earlier on Saturday, Dr Javaid Aheer was elected as the YDA Punjab President. He replaced Dr Hamid Butt. Dr Saud Afzal was elected as the chairman and Dr Hamid Butt as the association’s patron.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2012.