‘Rowdy docs’ ruining professional sanctity 

LAHORE: The ‘rowdy’ doctors at public sector hospitals have become a pain in the neck for all concerned. Not only the patients and their attendants but also the top management of the hospitals are the usual victims of the unruly attitude of the so-called saviours at the health facilities.

Since the formation of the Young Doctors Association (YDA) some 12 years ago, the ill-tempered medical practitioners seem ever ready to thrash the patients and their attendants instead of fulfilling the professional obligation of providing timely treatment. The members of the association, more often than not, are ready to block the roads, giving frequent strike calls and staging sit-ins for their demands that is quite unusual for healthcare providers all over the world. In such cases, the public at large, especially the commuters, are the ultimate sufferers. The healthcare managers, meanwhile, have mostly appeared to be at their beck and call.

The death of a 30-year-old man at the Services Hospital emergency ward due to the ‘criminal negligence’ has again exposed the callous attitude of the YDA leadership. On January 14, Hamid son of Mohammad Yaseen walked into the hospital emergency with a normal complaint and got an admission slip at 5.52am. The duty doctors left him unattended for about an hour which led to his death without any treatment.

To hush up the incident, the medics managed a new admission slip mentioning the admission time of 6.43am, and simultaneously issued a death certificate declaring him ‘received dead’. While reviewing the CCTV footage, the ill-fated ‘received dead’ man could be seen walking to the emergency.

The medics made the situation even worse for themselves by locking up the deceased’s relatives in a room. The relatives had demanded the medical findings of Hamid. They first thrashed the ill-fated family and then handed them over to the police for registration of a criminal case. As per the eyewitnesses, the medics even tortured the women family members of the deceased person.

In order to put the management under pressure, the medics resorted to the usual practice of shutting down the hospital emergency and other departments besides besieging the office of the medical superintendent.

It was not the first incident of such a nature nor is it likely to be the last one if people at the helm of affairs continue to ignore such malpractices.

The incident has gained such attention because of the rightful stance of the hospital management that retrieved the medical record, including both the admission slips displaying different time, and also by saving the CCTV camera footage to blow the lid off the ugly incident.

Resisting pressure

Despite huge pressure and threats of prolonged strike, Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Ahteshamul Haq informed the high-ups about the actual situation after evaluating all the record and the CCTV footage.

It is a rare move by a hospital administration to involve the top health authorities in order to get rid of a constant source of trouble.

In quite an unusual development, the entire hospital administration stood behind the MS and demanded action against four YDA doctors.

The MS requested the Pakistan Medical Council to suspend/cancel degrees of the doctors found guilty of misconduct. He also requested the Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education Department (SH&MED), the University of Health Sciences (UHS) and the College of Physicians & Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) to take action against them.

He shared the detailed profile of the four medics who are in the habit of torturing the attendants and relatives of patients, and instigating doctors for strike and misconduct. He identified Dr Mohammad Imran, Dr Salman Sarwar, Dr Salman Haseeb and Dr Mahmoodul Hassan as the prime culprits, recommending major disciplinary action by the PMC and the health department.

“Dr Salman Haseeb is illegally promoting foul behaviour at the hospital. His extension in the postgraduate training may not be granted. The appointment of Dr Mohammad Imran for a period of three months may immediately be terminated. He may also be barred from getting future employment”, reads the letter of the medical superintendent.

“Dr Salman Sarwar may be directed to report to the SH&MED”, he said while requesting the UHS to suspend his training besides terminating registration on account of his participation in the illegal activity.

“Dr Mahmoodul Hassan may be transferred from the Services Hospital. Action should be taken against him under PEEDA Act 2006”, the letter further read.

A day after the MS wrote the letter, all administrative doctors of the Services Hospitals including nine additional medical superintendents (AMSs) and 14 deputy medical superintendents (DMSs) called an emergency meeting to condemn the attack at the MS office and the closure of emergency and other departments.

In a unanimous resolution, the 23 administrative doctors condemned the misconduct of the four doctors involved in the incident, and requested the health authorities to take strict action against them. They expressed solidarity with the MS and declared the mob violence a shameful and an unlawful act.

They said the young doctors had used abusive language against the MS and other senior administration officers to exert pressure to exclude their names from the inquiry report. They said the doctors in question had defamed the hospital and the profession of medicine.

“We demand exemplary punishment as per the rules and regulations”, they said.