‘Give us arms’ permits to protect ourselves from rowdy attendants’

Doctors say they will no longer tolerate misbehaviour.

FAISALABAD:

Doctors in the Faisalabad district have demanded that they be issued arms licences in view of several incidents where doctors have been attacked by patients’ attendants.

The demand was raised at a joint press conference on Tuesday by office bearers of Young Doctors Association, Tajikistan Medical Association and doctors organisations of divisional headquarters (DHQ) hospital, Allied Hospital, General Hospital Ghulam Muhammadabad, General Hospital Samanabad and the Faisalabad Institute of Cardiology.

Dr Muhammad Naveed of the DHQ Hospital doctors’ Organisation said that patients’ attendants were often rude to the extent that they tended to attack doctors on unproven negligence allegations.

He said the doctors had a record of keeping calm and avoiding confrontation.

“But we will no longer tolerate misbehaviour or maltreatment.”

Dr Muhammad Adnan said that he regretted the government’s silence in this regard.

“If the government cannot protect us, it should at least issue us weapon licences so that we can protect ourselves,” he said.

Dr Zaeem Anwar mentioned some recent incidents where attendants had thrashed doctors “without any justification”.

The doctors said that several strikes and protests had been observed by doctors of government hospitals over the past few months to express solidarity with their colleagues who had been attacked, but the government had not act to improve doctors’ security.

The doctors said that attendants would think twice before attacking them if they know that doctors possessed licensed weapons.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2013.