Legal Battle: Talks between CM, JPMC paramedics fail

KARACHI: The talks between Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and the paramedics of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) failed due to legal issues. The protesting hospital staff, who have been on strike since Monday, held a meeting with the CM. Sources said that the provincial government was ready to resolve the issues of JPMC employees but some of the officials raised the issue of cases pending in the court since 2011 after the facility devolved. The officials said that issues with health allowances, promotions and new recruitment cannot be resolved until the case is withdrawn. Thousands of patients were forced to turn back or relocate to other hospitals as all OPDs were closed due to the strike. No new patient was being admitted in the wards. “The entire hospital is disturbed,” said JPMC’s focal person Dr Javed Jamali.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2015.