Screening attendants: Police checkpost to be set up at PIMS

Following thrashing, doctors threaten strike if security not enhanced.

ISLAMABAD:

In a bid to enhance security at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), the Islamabad Police will establish a checkpoint within the hospital’s premises.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Margalla Police Station ASP Rizwan Gondal said the proposal to establish a checkpoint has been approved after a request was made by hospital staffers who were recently attacked by a group of people in the emergency ward.

According to the plan, around 10 police officials will be deputed at the checkpoint in shifts and will be present round-the-clock. A sub-inspector will be heading them, said Gondal, adding that the exact location of the checkpoint has yet to be finalised. “We have also asked the Pims administration to allocate one or two rooms for the officials to store documents and other necessary items,” he said.



He said two to three policemen patrol the hospitals right now. “We cannot give assurances that such incidents will end after establishing the checkpoint, but all-out efforts will be made to provide a secure working environment to the hospital staff,” he said. Gondal also criticised the hospital’s security guards for failing to maintain order, despite numbering well over a hundred.

Pims Spokesperson Dr Ayesha Eshani told The Express Tribune that the hospital administration is going to ensure that a secure environment is provided to the hospital staff so it can work comfortably.

She said the incident on Sunday had created a sense of insecurity among the doctors. Additionally, the Young Doctors Association (YDA) of the hospital has given an ultimatum to the administration to enhance security by October 20 or they would start a strike from the next day.



They have demanded the Pims administration to install an emergency alarm system in every department of the hospital and the doctor’s hostel and increase the number of security guards along with police protection.

The YDA chief at Pims, Dr Mohammad Haroon, said that almost every day, staff fall victim to attendants who rough them up and leave without any fear of the police.

“We cannot work in such a fearful environment,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2013.