Patients suffer as YDA strike in Punjab enters into seventh day

LAHORE: The dismissed activists of Young Doctors Associations (YDA) have reached to 66 in span of a week but all counter-strike measures by provincial health authorities remained futile to compel the doctors to end their strike and return to duties as their strike on Monday entered into seventh consecutive day, ARY News reported.

In failure of negotiations between doctors and the authorities concerned, the patients are suffering the most due to absences of striking doctors at various public sector hospitals across the province to press for their demands.

A day before, the provincial health department had sacked around 47 doctors, 11 postgraduate trainee doctors and 36 house officers among them.

The doctors were suspended on the recommendation of disciplinary committees constituted by the administration of healthcare institutions to create deterrence against the practice of observing strikes at hospitals, which was taking heavy toll on patients.

The sacked doctors belonged to various hospitals, including Lahore General Hospital, Jinnah Hospital, Services Hospital Lahore, Shaikh Zayed Hospital Rahim Yar Khan, Allied Hospital Faisalabad and Aziz Bhatti Hospital Gujrat,

Authorities said they were compelled to take this extreme measure since patients were suffering the most. A patient had died few days ago at Jinnah Hospital due to doctors strike, the family members of the deceased said . However, YDA denied the allegations, saying, the patient had already died before he was brought to hospital.

The provincial authorities said the administration of medical superintendents of teaching hospitals have been asked to submit reports containing names of medics creating obstacles in healthcare services.