News
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Doctors force Punjab govt to eat humble pie
* Government withdraws termination notices against 16 doctors
By Khalid bin Majeed
RAWALPINDI: The Punjab health secretary here on Saturday withdrew termination notices against 16 doctors, said the sources.
Meanwhile, over 70 routine operations were postponed on Thursday at the city’s main hospitals including District Headquarters Hospital, Holy Family Hospital and Benazir Bhutto Hospital due to the strike of young doctors that has entered 19th day to press the provincial government for meeting their demands. A couple of days ago the government issued termination notices to 16 doctors including Dr Waleed Abbasi, Dr Fizan, Dr Gulsham, Dr Asif Raza, Dr Chaudhry, Dr Faisal, Dr Umer Saeed, Dr Aqeel, Dr Faisal, Dr Shoaib, Dr Shafi, Dr Ayaz, Dr Ambreen, Dr Rana Mohsin, Dr Ghulan Abass and others to pressurize the doctors to end their strike.
On the other hand, the protesting doctors had threatened the government on Thursday that they would close all the services at allied hospitals if it did not withdrew these notices within three days.
Many meetings have been held between the Punjab government and Young Doctors Association (YDA), but so far both the parties have failed to reach at any amicable solution thus adding to the miseries of thousands of patients.
YDA Rawalpindi Chapter Joint Secretary Dr Junaid Abbasi told this scribe all the routine operations in all departments of Allied Hospitals of the city were postponed as a part of the young doctors protest. He said only the emergency patients were operated upon. He said the government should understand the problems of the doctors and accept their genuine demands so that they could better serve the people. He appreciated the secretary health for withdrawal of termination notices issued to 16 doctors.
Over 300 doctors on Thursday protested against these notices and almost paralyzed all the medical services to the patients in the city’s main hospitals. They also blocked the busiest Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Road and burned effigies of the Punjab chief minister and secretary health. The Punjab government has prepared a list of 48 doctors all over the Punjab and these 16 doctors were included in the list.
The Punjab government has ordered the authorities to prepare a list of the patients all over the Punjab who died or their condition got worsened due to medical negligence and unavailability of the proper medical care due to the strike of the doctors.
The health department has asked the principals of medical colleges to keep a strict eye on the doctors and in this regard a meeting of the academic council was held at Rawalpindi Medical College.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk