Unsatisfied with action taken by the administration of Jinnah Hospital on a harassment complaint, the Young Nurses Association (YNA) of the Punjab has decided to go on a province-wide strike on Monday (today). The nurses at public hospitals across the Punjab have been asked to join their strike.
On Saturday, the YNA gave the administration of Allama Iqbal Medical College and Jinnah Hospital 24 hours to take stern action against a doctor they accused of harassing a nurse on duty. Nurses from Services Hospital, Mayo Hospital and General Hospital joined the nurses in a protest demonstration on Saturday. The YNA said that its members would go on strike at public hospitals in the province till their concerns were addressed. They said that nurses on duty at the Emergency Ward and the Intensive Care Unit would continue to perform their duties.
A strike was called at Jinnah Hospital on November 20 in protest against a doctor who allegedly used abusive language for a nurse on November 16.
YNA general secretary Shahnaz Kausar said a member of the Young Doctors’ Association had used harsh language for a nurse and thrown an object at her. She said the doctor also confessed to as much in front of Additional Medical Superintendent Aftab Iqbal. She said the doctor was suspended from duty on orders of the Allama Iqbal Medical College principal on November 17. The administration also constituted a committee, convened by Additional MS Muhammad Sharif, to probe the event.
“However, the YDA came to the doctor’s rescue. They separately met with Jinnah Hospital’s administration... the committee’s decision favoured the doctor,” she said.
Kausar said members of the committee told off the nurse and doctor for their behaviour and put the matter to rest. “We want stern action against the doctors. Else we will continue to protest.” She said such behaviour could not be tolerated.
She said when the complaint was filed at around 3:05am on November 17, AMS Aftab Iqbal had written a note saying that the doctor had misbehaved with him as well. He had also mentioned that the doctor had confessed to being rude.
Sharif, the convener of the inquiry committee, said it was an open-and-shut case of a quarrel that had turned ugly. “The Young Nurses are turning it into a political matter without a reason.” He said they had held a five-hour long inquiry into the matter and had recorded statements of the doctor and the nurse. He said they had both misbehaved and that the committee had not taken stern action against either of them. “Disrupting the hospital’s operations by going on a strike over this is not justified,” he said. Sharif said they had had to ask pharmaceutical dispensers, house officers, technicians, and nurses from the nursing school to fill in for the protesting nurses.
The YNA refused to accept the committee’s decision even though there was a nurse on the committee, he said. Everyone has the right to protest but one needed to be mindful of others’ rights when doing so, he said. The strike had set a bad precedent, he said. “Youngsters tend to argue and flare up... that is no reason to call a strike,” said Dr Sharif. Heads of departments have been asked to solve the matter at the earliest.
Principal Mehmood Shaukat had recommended setting up another committee comprising two senior doctors and a nurse of the YNA’s choice, but the YNA refused to accept it. He said the health secretary had tried to settle things but they had refused to listen to him as well. “We cannot suspend doctors just because nurses want us to.”
Dr Adnan Gondal, YDA’s representative at Jinnah Hospital, said this wasn’t an issue for the YDA or the YNA, but between two people. “The YNA’s reaction is completely out of proportion... we tried negotiating with them but they don’t want to listen.”
He said given the rifts within the YNA, they weren’t expecting the strike to have much of an impact on hospital’s operations. “Not all nurses will respond to the call for strike.”
Health Director General Dr Zahid Pervez said, “Nurses are our colleagues and we will address their concerns if they agree to talk to us.” He said he hoped that the call for strike will not catch on across the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2014.
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