Daily Times

The masses have paid the price for a standoff between the doctors’ community and the Punjab government as most of public hospital in Lahore and other major cities have been dysfunction for the last couple of days. It is pathetic to note that people reach hospitals with their ailing loved ones only to find that no doctor is ready to treat them as the Young Doctors’ Association (YDA) has went on a strike in protest against a raid by the Anti-Corruption Department against a YDA Vice President Dr Atif at the Services Hospital, Lahore.

Whilst it is unfair to patients to have to go through not just inconvenience but, at times, life threatening situations, one must also save some sympathy for the crying doctors who are battling against a disinterested and indifferent government. The provincial government officials have failed to give an ear to their issues, which has been taking a heavy toll on the already distressed patients. Doctors claim that the situation at public hospitals is worst while the government is not paying attention to the healthcare sector. One of the hallmarks of the Punjab PML-N government is its failure to act on the many promises it makes. The Shahbaz Sharif government is earning a bad reputation for simply being unable to resolve the matter in an amicable way. There seems to be no end to the dilly-dallying around of the Punjab government, always waiting for things to turn decidedly worse before moves are made to make them better. It is about time that the government stops ignoring this disgruntled and essential segment of our community. Although YDA’s concerns are justified, these strikes are causing further backlogs and delays in providing urgent care in an already faltering and inadequate healthcare system. Patients are facing untold miseries in getting required treatment at those health facilities, where doctors are staging protests. The government needs to rise to the responsibility of rehabilitating our ailing healthcare system, as well as addressing the genuine concerns of doctors. This democratic government should pay attention to the needs of the public and come to the rescue of ailing citizens, who have no resources to visit private hospitals. Already the public hospitals are ill equipped, understaffed and too few to serve the growing medical needs of the urban populace. Because of the lack of hospitals in rural and suburban centres, people from these regions also travel into the cities for healthcare, which also impacts the doctor-patient ratio. Due to these issues, brain drain is becoming a chronic problem for Pakistan. It is high time that the Punjab government negotiated with the doctors’ community to end hardship of patients. *