Negligence: Two workers injured as patient’s family vandalise hospital

Police arrest 10 of the rioters.

HAFIZABAD:

The family of a pregnant woman, who was brought to district headquarters hospital, vandalised the emergency ward and attacked some paramedics.

Two hospital workers were injured. Police arrested 10 of the protesters.

Earlier, the woman’s family said that Qamar Bibi, 30, who was seven months pregnant, was brought to the emergency ward after she complained about lower abdominal pain. They said some nurses took Qamar Bibi to the labour room, where they left her unattended “for hours”. They also alleged that when they asked some nurses about the doctors, they were rude to them.

They said they later took her to a private clinic.



The hospital administration said that two hours after the family left, some men returned with clubs and stones and attacked the emergency ward. They were later joined by more men, they said. First they entered the ward and broke some equipment and furniture there. They then broke windows and glass doors. Two workers, Sarfaraz and Asif, were injured while trying to lock the doors connecting the ward to other parts of the hospital.



Police were called and 10 of the assailants were arrested. The rest fled.

Some doctors and paramedics later boycotted work and demanded better security at the hospital.

They said it was not the first time such an incident had happened and urged that the management must take notice of the incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2013.