Young Doctors Strike

The Young Doctors demanded not only pay raise but also health facilities

Doctors are said to be the saviours of the ailing humanity. They are the compassionate healers who look after the people selflessly helping them to live a healthy life. However, the recent strike of the young doctors in Punjab and other provinces claiming the lives of several patients has earned a bad name to their noble profession.

The young doctors’ strike under the auspices of Young Doctors’ Association (YDA) began on March 1, 2011. It started from Mayo Hospital, Lahore, demanding better pay structure in accordance with their qualification and experience and later spread not only to the whole of Punjab but to other provinces as well. Doctors of other provinces also went on strike to show solidarity with their counterparts in Punjab and demanded a uniform pay package across the country.

The young doctors’ strike which continued for 38 days caused the closing of the Outdoor Patient Departments (OPDs), the Indoor Patient Departments (IPDs) and the emergency wards. The strike was also marked by road blockades of major arteries of the provincial metropolis including the Canal Road, Jail Road, Mall Road and Ferozepur Road causing severe traffic jams and problems to the commuters. The young doctors demanded not only pay raise but also health facilities. They initially gave the government a 48-hour ultimatum to increase their salary or face the consequences. The Punjab government dealt the strike with an iron hand by adopting a three-pronged strategy. The striking doctors were issued warning letters and show-cause notices and the government directed the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan to cancel the post-graduate training of the protesting doctors.

The strike created a chaotic situation for the patients who had to face severe hardships. The patients were initially treated in roadside camps as the doctors had stopped working in the OPDs. This caused inconvenience to patients. Moreover, a large number of patients coming from rural areas and far-off cities had to bear the brunt of the strike. The non-availability of doctors and their negligence caused more than 40 casualties in Punjab, while about a million patients had to suffer throughout the 38-day strike.

While the young doctors protested for higher pays, the Punjab Chief Minister remained unavailable for this period due to his visit to London. The senior advisor to the CM, Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa discussed lack of funds available for the increase in pay packages but the doctors remained adamant. Later, a special pay allowance of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 from July 1, 2011, was decided. However, the doctors refused to accept the offer asking for Rs 70,000 for house officer and Rs 12,000 for post-graduate trainees. The doctors also demanded the regularisation of those doctors who were working on contract. The dialogue between the Punjab government and the YDA failed to achieve any breakthrough. The strike reached its apex when the doctors refused to attend the patients in the emergencies of the public teaching hospitals throughout Punjab and staged a protest outside the Punjab Assembly. A meeting with Zulfiqar Khosa the next day helped in pacifying the doctors who decided to end strike on the assurances of an increase in pay. The YDA officially called off the strike on March 31, 2011. President YDA, Hamid Butt, announced the end of strike on the basis of the acceptance of the demands of the young doctors by the Punjab government. However, later the YDA announced to continue strike by demanding a salary raise for Professors and other senior doctors. The senior doctors backed YDA in this regard. This infuriated the government and it gave an ultimatum to the doctors to end their strike or they would be fired. The new deadlock resulted in the young doctors presenting their resignations and the Health Department terminating the striking doctors. The Punjab CM, Shahbaz Sharif ordered the Health Department to recruit new doctors so the unattended patients could be looked after.

After much speculation, the strike was called off by the doctors on April 7, 2011, after a meeting of YDA with the CM. The issue seemed to be resolved at that moment. However, it was a temporary resolution. The young doctors announced to continue their strike due to the failure of the Punjab government to chalk out the future strategy regarding. The continuing strike compelled the Punjab government to announce a Rs 5.2 billion pay package for the doctors on May 9, 2011. Under the package, stipend of a house officer would increase from Rs 18,000 to Rs 24,000 and stipend of post graduate students would increase from 22,000 to 42,000. Increase of Rs 15,000 in salaries of medical officers and dental surgeons of BPS 17 has also been announced and additional Rs 3,370 per month would be given to them as pay protection. Salaries of doctors in BPs- 18, 19 and 20 have been increased by Rs. 10,000. In addition, Rs. 23.90 million would be incurred on pay protection of nurses. Punjab government announced that the federal government did not pay a penny, rather the Punjab government had arranged for the funds despite the huge financial constraints. Pakistan Medical Association has accepted the pay increase and has showed a positive attitude towards it. However, the Young Doctors Association has refused to accept the current promotional package for the doctors.

The strike created a chaotic situation for the patients who had to face severe hardships. The patients were initially treated in roadside camps as the doctors stopped working in the OPDs.
Causes of strike
The causes of the strike of the young doctors are the following:
An increment in salaries.
A raise in health budget.
A 100 per cent raise in paid seats of all trainee doctors including medical officers, post graduate, house officers, and a revision of their service structure.
A salary package should be announced for all categories including house officers, post graduates, medical officers, senior registrars, specialists and teaching, administrative and general cadres.
Fix minimum pay of a doctor at Rs 70,000 and offer pay protection to them.
Implementation of a service structure.
Regularisation of doctors working on contract.
Medical facilities for doctors’ families.
Consequences of strike
The strike of the young doctors claimed more than 40 lives throughout Punjab of which many were children. At least one million people suffered due to the young doctors’ strike and more than 980,000 patients had not been properly treated in Punjab public sector hospitals. The plight of the patients was ignored by the doctors. The patients had to suffer immensely due to non-availability of doctors in the public hospitals and had to rush to the private hospitals which were unaffordable for many people.

Stance of doctors

The young doctors believe that they are justified in observing the strike. They are of the opinion that the government has always been negligent to the dilapidated condition of young doctors. They believe that the Punjab government has funds to increase salaries of the Punjab Police Department but doctors are deprived of their rights time and again. The doctors do not blame themselves for the casualties of the patients during their strike rather they believe that the lack of pro-active behaviour on the part of government aggravated the situation. Doctors like any other individual are entitled to be paid in commensurate with their qualification and work load.

Stance of political parties

Various political parties expressed their concern over the issue of the young doctors’ strike. PML (Q) condemned Shahbaz Sharif on the brutal and inhuman treatment of doctors. The leader of Muttahida Quami Movement, Altaf Hussain also expressed his concern over the continuing strike by the young doctors in Punjab and said that the legitimate demands of the young doctors should be accepted immediately. He said that the doctors had been forced to protest because of their low income and problems being faced by them due to sharp increase in the cost of living. He regretted that the Punjab government was not doing anything to resolve the issue due to which patients were facing difficulties in hospitals.
All-Pakistan Muslim League (APML) also slammed Punjab government’s behavior towards doctors, terming the demands of the doctors genuine. It blamed CM Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif to be  a failed administrator.

Religious parties also condemned the doctors’ strike. Eight religious parties including Pakistan Muslim Front, Tehreek-e-Namoos-e-Risalat and Markazi Milad Committee asked the Punjab government to take punitive steps against doctors and held the doctors responsible for the deaths of the patients.

Morality vs materialism

The question is that who is responsible for the deaths of patients due to doctors’ strike? Is it the doctors who refused to treat the patients for their pay raise or the government who mishandled the issue? The truth is that the issue was mishandled by both sides. Both the doctors and the government showed inflexibility and intolerance towards each other. However, a greater responsibility lies on doctors.  At a time when the government is attempting to cut down its expenditure and is heavenly indebted, one fails to see how a single group can justifiably be given such preferential treatment. (The Hippocratic Oath embodies selflessness of the medical profession.) It is binding on all doctors to put the patients above everything else. The pursuit of personal interests must not impinge upon the running of the government machinery. A strike is not the only solution for the problems. Moreover, if other professions resort to similar tactics, it could pose untold miseries for the society as a whole.

By: Tabina Sirhindi

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