Public health in crisis: Doctors reduced to pawns in a game of power politics

Police pickets and private security system fail to offer relief to doctors at Civil hospital .

KARACHI:

Doctors of the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) are working under constant stress after having been repeatedly harassed at the hands of attendants visiting the hospital’s emergency wing with injured political workers. The law-enforcement personnel and private security guards also seem ineffectual in their duty to curtail such untoward incidents.

The Civil hospital is the one of the biggest public sector hospitals in the city, where thousands of patients from parts of the city and rural areas of Sindh and Balochistan visit regularly. The medical staff, however, faces constant threats when dealing with patients related to any Karachi-based political party.

The hospital has two entry and two exit routes - the main gate to emergency from MA Jinnah Road and the other from Mission Road.

Police pickets and the private security system fail to provide protection to the patients and the hospital’s employees as doctors and medical staff are intimidated time and again by attendants.

“Police can’t interfere when doctors are being threatened or tortured,” said a medical officer on the condition of anonymity. “The hospital’s security staff is not fully trained to counter such a situation.”

The staff and female doctors are afraid of dealing with emergency cases and avoid entering operation theatres. In a recent episode, some gunmen entered the operation theatre where a bullet-riddled person affiliated with a religious party was being operated on. “Two lady doctors sought cover under the operation table,” a doctor told The Express Tribune.

The staff is also afraid of reporting such incidents as different employees are affiliated with different parties. “If we resist or register a complaint against them, they could harm us easily because the employees know each other well,” said another senior doctor.

Interestingly, a visitor can easily see union offices of employees affiliated with political parties, while the wards and corridors of different departments also speak a lot about the political connection of unions’ leaders.

“The staff members having political links work openly. What is worse is that doctors and even patients are asked to pay extortion money within the hospital’s premises,” senior doctors told to The Express Tribune. “Mafias rule here, and doctors have to obey their orders.”

According to the hospital’s records, the ratio of junior female doctors in the CHK is higher than their male counterparts. “It’s almost 85 per cent,” said a doctor. A junior lady doctor said that her colleagues didn’t want to perform any duty after the morning shift because the attitude of attendants was very harsh, adding that neither the doctors nor the other staff could work in such a situation. “It affects the overall performance because it is a sensitive job and a doctor can’t work under threats.”

Most of the doctors enter emergencies and operation theatres without the white coat and medical tools, she said.

According to the hospital’s record, the number of out-door patients is around 2,000 daily, while 5,000 to 7,000 patients visit the CHK’s different departments regularly. The patients without political affiliation, however, suffer the most.

In August 2012, the Sindh government had ensured of providing the administration with foolproof security within three months after a senior doctor, Associate Prof. Umairul Islam, was beaten up within the hospital premises. Ironically, nothing has been done so far and senior police officials were unable to comment on the security arrangements.

Another doctor said that his female counterpart was threatened in the OPD by a female attendant last week. “The attendant had demanded that the doctor see her patient before anyone else or she would blow up the place,” he added. “I know just one thing that Tange wala khair mangda - I have to survive here.”

The other side

Sources from provincial health department informed The Express Tribune that four letters for security arrangements had been sent to home departments, adding that no measures have been taken so far.

On the other hand, Health Deputy Secretary Imdad Shah said that the CHK was being provided funds for its private security arrangements, adding that the provincial health minister, Owais Muzaffar, had also asked the home department to address the security lapse. “He has also directed authorities to remove encroachments around the hospital.”

The CHK Medical Superintendent Prof. M Saeed Quraishy shared that he was not satisfied with the security arrangements. He said that due to the inefficiency of the current security company, they were looking for a new one.

Prof. Quraishy informed that despite direction of the health minister and other top officials, proper security measures weren’t taken. “I think it is under process and may take some time,” he justified.

DIG South Dr Ameer Shaikh was unavailable for comment when contacted.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2013.