LAHORE - Though young doctors resumed duties at OPDs and indoors of public sector hospitals on Monday after a 20-day strike, the Punjab government continues to work on plan-B to keep health care centres functional if such a scenario emerges in future.
Normalcy returned to hospitals across the province on Monday with the return of protesting doctors on duty, much to the relief of suffering humanity that faced deep troubles in getting medical attention during the Young Doctors Association (YDA) Punjab’ s strike.
The Punjab government, which hired the services of Army and recruited hundreds of male and female doctors to keep the hospitals functional, continued to hire more and more women medical officers and medical officers on an ad hoc basis to ensure provision of healthcare facilities to the masses in case of any strike in future.
As the protesting doctors resumed duties and their arrested colleagues released from jail, the Army doctors and those from other departments started going back. Young doctors provided health facilities to patients who came in a great number after the end of strike. On the other hand, the Punjab Health Department on Monday issued appointment letters to 378 WMOs and MOs for performing duties at various tertiary care hospitals across the province including the provincial capital, giving impression that it was strengthening alternative arrangements to cope with such a strike in future.
The YDA Punjab has termed the appointment of ad hoc doctors in the presence of Public Service Commission illegal, saying that the association will adopt legal measures to ensure provision of quality healthcare facilities to the masses at public sector hospitals.
“The YDA has called off strike and there is no logic to prepare (Plan) B or any other plan. The Lahore High Court has sought a report from the government on service structure and the association hoped that the issue will be resolved permanently”, said YDA office-bearer Dr Mudassar Khan.
He added no seat of WMO or MO was vacant in any hospital and even if any vacancy was available, PPSC was a competent forum for making such recruitments. He said the YDA could approach the LHC with the request to ensure transparency and merit in the recruitment process.
To a question about timing of these appointments, he said these doctors could not prove proper alternative of post-graduate trainees and trained healthcare providers. He said the government should avoid privatising health sector like it did for education as the masses could not afford costly treatment.
Dispelling the impression of any Plan B, a spokesperson for the Health Department said teaching hospitals had recommended 378 doctors after interview and these were already working during the YDA strike.
“The government has already completed the process of recruiting these doctors. Hospitals have provided lists and the department issued appointment letters. These doctors have been working for the past 4-5 days. Denying jobs to these doctors after completing the recruitment process was injustice”, he said, adding that the government had fulfilled its commitment with these doctors and it has nothing to do with Plan B or any such strategy.
Sixty ad hoc MOs have been appointed at Services Hospital, 50 each at Mayo and Jinnah Hospital, 47 at LGH, 46 at Bahawal Victoria Hospital Bahawalpur, 37 at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, 23 at Holy Family Hospital Rawalpindi, 20 at Benazir Bhutto Hospital Rawalpindi, 15 at hospitals in Faisalabad, 14 at PIC, 13 at Children Hospital and five at DHQRawalpindi.