Monday, July 2, 2012

Things you don’t want to know about young doctors strike in Lahore.

The young doctors’ strike in Lahore has entered a critical stage. The government cracked down on young doctors, arresting several key activists of Young Doctors Association. The government tried to settle the matter with less logic and more haste. The doctors remained persistent on demanding an equal service structure equivalent to other government employees in the province. I visited Lahore’s Services Hospital on Sunday a day before the police raided the premises to harass young doctors. I talked with several young doctors. What they told me was opposite to what the media was showing on the behest of the Punjab government. Below is the list of questions that I wanted to ask young doctors.

Why young doctors are not treating patients?
All hospital wards were open and running except Out Patient Departments, during the last one month of young doctors' strike. There was no sign of any strike in Service’s Hospital’s medicine emergency ward, which I visited. I tried to convince a doctor friend to accompany me for lunch, which she refused citing work load. According to her, the excessive work load was because all OPD patients were being checked in emergency wards. The strike was symbolic. Young doctors were doing a symbolic strike by checking patients in strike camps setup outside OPDs or in other wards.

Is government giving handsome salaries and perks to doctors?
No. Contrary to the Punjab government’s tall claims, a young doctor gets a meager pay. In some instances, young doctors who have passed their specialization exam are forced to work for free. A doctor joins the profession in grade-17 like other government employees, but remains in the same grade even after 25 years of service whereas all other government employees get promotions periodically.

Do young doctors earn millions in private practice?
No. If a doctor is earning millions or even hundreds of thousands, then why would he or she would work in a government hospital for a few thousands. The doctors who earn a lot are not young doctors. They are senior doctors with years of experience. If I want to visit a doctor, I would go to the most experienced private doctor in my city and not to a young doctor.

Do young doctors do private practice?
No. A young doctor has tough timings. Every week he or she is bound to remain in the ward for 24 hours. A young doctor can’t do private practice. Those who do private practice are not young doctors.

Are senior doctors’ supporting young colleagues in the strike?
Yes. The senior doctors have suffered a lot in their early times. The community as a whole want better working conditions. A lady doctor, Dr Sadia, who has been working in the Services Hospital for 21 years, have recently resigned from grade BPS- 17 - which she joined two decades ago. She has joined a private hospital. None of the senior doctors have condemned the strike.

Are more people dying because of strike?
No. Death is a rare thing in OPDs. No one dies of stomach ache, head ache and minor infections. The few casualties reported by the media are normal natural deaths. There were no deaths during the last one month of doctors' strike. Deaths started to occur after police raided the hospitals to arrest young doctors on night between Sunday (1-7-12) and Monday (2-7-12).  

Will government hire 2000 doctors tomorrow?
No. There are no 2000 young doctors in the province. Those working in private hospitals will never opt for the government service because of poor pay structure. The organization of doctors working in rural areas have refused to replace striking doctors even on the incentive of one extra salary.

What recourse the government have?
The Punjab government has to accept the doctors’ demand. The government has become short of logic and arguments and that’s why it is resorting to coercive measures.

Who is a young doctor?
This is a young doctor.

48 comments:

  1. Thank you for supporting the truth, and in such an orderly way.

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  2. a biased writing!!!

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  3. kia biased writing??? biased tmhari soch he jnhe pta kch hota nae he and bs jo tv se pta chl gya usk base pe scholar and debator bn'ne nikal paray....knw thing before speaking about thing

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    Replies
    1. Tusi waday scientist?

      Are all intellectuals just in medical? I pity you for your low standards and feel of hatred towards rest of Pakistani community.

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    2. nhe tu he wada haiga.those who pity others ,they r frustrated with their lives,we damn care.

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  4. Thanku Hamid bhai fer visualisin it this way.. Media iz portrayin us real bad!

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  5. a real pic finally

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  6. Thanx for bringing up the facts than stupidity that media had been showing for last 8 days

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    Replies
    1. lols...jani fact is this that you think you are the only functional unit without which govt would collapse.
      Baqi subb channay baichtay hain kia sarkon py? Aur kia sirf tum loag hi parthay ho...baqi awara gardii krtay hain?

      Delete
  7. Media ny aj tk such btaya kbhi jo ub btain gy...

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  8. well I appreciate it but all the points r not right as I know most of the doctors from general hospital were working in Zainab Private hospital, but yes as the tele media is only presenting the biased one sided picture so the doctors needs to be more active on social media, and surely Shehbaz Shareef style of management is not better from a dictator

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  9. This really is an eye opener. And why is the media giving a false picture this I have failed to comprehend. Even today's Dawn (Print edition) says this? Calling Army doctors, well don't the army doctors have to look after their own hospitals are they so under-worked?

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  10. and the role of CJ is very dubious in all this I read the other day that Lahore High Court is not letting the NAB to open the corruption cases against shareefs, I think CJ ehsanoon key taley deb gaya hey

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  11. The number of doctors in all armed forces hospitals in Lahore is far less than number of doctors in one government Lahore hospitals. The army doctors are a media gimmick. They will return soon. Doctors in government hospitals handle a far larger number of patients than army doctors do.

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  12. @ahemd.audit, Sir after all CJP is a South Asian human who adores people who like him:)

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  13. thank you supporting the truth.

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  14. The only cogent argument given by Government of Punjab is that increase in doctors' salaries will put a huge burden on the exchequer. Even this is not a solid one. Health should be one of the highest priorities of the government and all the lavish expenditure on other, unnecessary heads should be curtailed to finance public health.

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    Replies
    1. Chanda baqi subb depts ko tankhwa apki jaib say milti hai? Waday tusi Sheikh Aludin.

      Govt ka sirr pair na pata ho tau bilwajah jump nae martay.
      Wait kro apni bari ka, mil jai paisa bi aur grade bi...

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  15. It is now an open secret that the CJP has no desire or mettle to act contrary to the wishes of the Army, to whom he owes his restoration - remember the phone call to Aitezaz Ahsan in the middle of long march. Even when, for showcasing purposes, he mildly grilled the military over their inhuman role in Balochistan, he was reminded of his worth by bringing to forth the Dr Arsalan scandal. The lending of army doctors to Punjab government also points to a mending of fences between the Sharifs and Army.

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  16. Why CJ has not taken Suo Moto action against the Punjab government so far? i am sure if it was in Federal Capiatl or other province, all govt representatives would have been summoned by now......

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  17. Hats off to you sir for finall portraying the picture in such a perfect way.

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  18. Real picture at last depicted.. Thanx

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  19. army hospitals have far less patient load as compared to a gov hospital. i have worked there and i know even there was sometimes out of control rush in emergencies and opds so what to talk of gov hospitals. the condition in gov hospitals is deplorable due to v low health budgets as compared to army hospitals because army is quite well off due to the budget it is alloted. army doctors are themselves overworked due to being less in no. how can gov expect a few army docs to be able to leave their own hospitals and run a gov hospital usually managed by so many young docs. failure of gov in true sense.

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  20. Thnx fr bringng truth in front of all,,kindly also tel hw dctrz r being tortured,,dr naeem z on ventilator,,many dctrz hv fracturez,,So plz brng out true face of media n govt,,thnx

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  21. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  22. awam k naam bs ye kehna ha.... Inshallah, Inshallah agr yehe salook hota rha ham doctors k sath to mustaqbil qareeb mai koi bi doctor yaaha pakistan ma nahi rehna chahy ga aur new generation ma se bi koi bi doctor nahi banna pasand kry ga... phir dhondty phirna jab bemar howy to... doctors bi insan hain, unki bi basic needs hain... pori school, college, medical college na jany kitni mushkilat jhel kr yaha tk aye aur ye salook?? i m with doctors ... plz tm sb ye mulk chor k chly jaao .. yaha tumaari koi respect nahi ha.. i pray for u all... Allah bless u

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  23. Asalamualikum!
    first of all thanks allot Hamid bhai .
    after a long long read something which is factious but the ones who had made there minds on media reports never gonna believe this as they have seen biased clippings .i request u and people like u to present this truth to international media on our (young doctor's) behalf .may be it will make people of pakistan and those arrogant government officials think what they are doing wrong and at what cost.we have to make them realize that their ego is costing lives of poor people n lives of doctors and their families as well .

    thanks allot sir !

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  24. Well thats good that u visited and talked with doctors on this recent issue that has crippled the province just due to a dictator who knows how to bride media now also. Jazak Allah

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  25. this z truth,i apprecite u for such vision

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  26. If OPD isn't such an important department than why is that an essential functional department in hospitals. Are you kidding me? And if its not that important than government needs not to pay you that much for easy work without even which hospitals survive.

    Topsy turvy boyie!

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  27. Thank you sir. Thank you for exploring the facts yourself.You were able to seek the facts because you didn't want falling prey to Bribed-Media.
    Anyone who wants to seek facts will have to visit a govt hospital and discuss with stakeholders.LOOK INTO FACTS FOR SEEKING AN ANSWER , NOT THROUGH THE DISTORTING MEDIUM OF YOUR THOUGHTS POURED IN YOU BY OTHERS ( Bribed-Media ).

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  28. Every day new materialistic demand by doctors. Doctors are as cruel as Pakistani Govt. To date they are only thinking about money, kick backs and increments. No body is thinking about the poor peoples of Pakistan. Peoples are dying because of negligence and selfishness. I question doctors of Pakistan, when your endless demands will finish.

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    Replies
    1. Can you just go out and start community service for 24 hours a day if you are not paid adequately. I am sick and tired of hearing the mantra of "noble profession" for doctors only. This is a profession where you earn to run your life. Army people, bureaucrats etc are paid so heavily to perform their "Noble profession" Traders and Multinational company workers earn heavily too. The doctors are the only sector left without any perks. They dont even get a single paracetamol from their own sector.

      Delete
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