OPDs at public hospitals remain closed

Doctors, paramedics’ protest enters second day

ISLAMABAD: The protest by doctors and paramedical staff of federal public hospitals continued for the second day on Wednesday against freezing of the health-risk allowance as negotiations between the two sides entered deadlock.

Patients continue to suffer as all out-patient departments (OPDs) of public hospitals remained closed for the second day.

The protesters staged a sit-in at the NADRA Chowk from 8am and demonstrators were still out on the street till the filing of this report.



The doctors said that without issuance of a notification of de-freezing of the health-risk allowance they would not call-off the protest.

Dr Tanveer Malik, spokesperson for the Polyclinic Hospital, told The Express Tribune that services at the emergency ward resumed last night when the police released the doctors and the paramedical staff arrested on Tuesday.

He said that negotiations between the additional secretary Finance Division, secretary Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) and joint action committee of the hospitals started in the morning but concluded without any concrete or satisfactory decision.

When contacted, CADD Secretary Khalid Hanif said, “We have taken up the issue with the government and got a positive response from them, we have therefore asked the hospital employees to call off their protest and open all the OPDs.”



He further said that “the doctors and the paramedical staff are not ready to call-off the protest.” “It seems like they are now making it a political issue,” Hanif claimed.

“They should understand that the entire process will take some time as huge amount of money is involved,” he explained.

Hanif said if they want to continue the protest they should go back to the hospitals and continue token strike for a few hours rather than blocking roads and closing down the hospitals.

Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (Pims) Vice-Chancellor Prof Javed Akram, while talking to The Express Tribune, strongly condemned the closures of the OPDs by the doctors and the paramedical staff.

He said the academic council meeting of the university had unanimously decided on Wednesday to continue hospital services in Pims without any interruption, adding that a zero tolerance policy would be adopted for any “disrupter”.

“We will have to serve the patients at any cost and no OPDs or emergencies will be refused. We have unanimously decided that if there is a need we can even clean the toilets but will not tolerate negligence in patient care,” he said according to a statement issued here.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2015.