Rawalpindi - The young doctors from three allied hospitals here on Thursday took out a protest rally from Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) to press the government for acceptance of their demands and blocked the busiest Murree Road for all kind of vehicular movement posing hardships for commuters and the pedestrians.
They chanted slogans against the Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shehbaz Sharif, Secretary Health Najam Shah and other officials of health department.
According to details, young doctors from BBH, Holy Family Hospital (HFH), and District Headquarter Hospital (DHQ) Raja Bazaar gathered outside ER Department of BBH from where they carried out a rally to BBR and raised slogans against CM Punjab, Secretary Health and other officials for not solving their problems.
The young doctors were led by YDA BBH President Dr Rana Muhammad Azeem, YDA HFH President Dr Ashfaq Niazi, and YDA DHQ President Dr Shahid Fida. The doctors held Najam Shah responsible for deteriorating healthcare system in Punjab.
The protesting doctors also carried banners and placards against the health secretary and the Punjab government for not fulfilling their demands.
The doctors were protesting against lack of burn units in Bahawalpur division hospitals that they said contributed to large number of deaths in Ahmedpur Sharqia oil tanker tragedy.
They were also upset over alleged harassment of female doctors living in hostel of DHQ Sahiwal earlier this month.
They also protested against increasing insecurity for doctors at public hospitals, delay in appointments of doctors selected through Punjab Public Service Commission in 2013, delay in regularization of medical officers appointed on ad hoc contracts, continuous victimization of young doctors for raising voice over missing health facilities, violation of merit in recent inductions through central induction policy, and delay in implementation of service structure plan.
Further, the young doctors were annoyed over non-functional CT scan in BBH, absence of MRI facility in the three hospitals, non-existence of paediatric ward in DHQ, and unhygienic condition of doctors’ hostels at HFH and DHQ.
The protest suspended flow of traffic on the busy Murree Road for an hour creating problems for the motorists. The doctors ended their protest after negations with the area police. They warned if their demands were not fulfilled they would spread their protest demonstrations. Heavy contingent of police were also present on the occasion to control the situation.
