Poor patients suffer as paramedics observe strike

PESHAWAR: The poor patients suffered as the paramedics on Wednesday observed complete strike and suspended all health services in the public sector health institutions of the province.
Though the paramedics earlier had made a commitment that they would provide only emergency services in all the hospital during the strikes, there was no emergency cover provided to the patients as the protesting paramedics didn’t attend laboratories, operation theatres, X-ray and ultrasound machines.
On the call of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Paramedics Association, the paramedics paralysed health services at the Medical Teaching Institutions of Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) in Peshawar and Ayub Teaching Hospital (ATH) in Abbottabad.
Besides suspending health services at these tertiary care hospitals, the paramedics also boycotted their duties and didn’t provide services to the patients in the District Headquarters Hospitals, Tehsil Hospitals, Rural Health Centres (RHCs) and Basic Health Units (BHUs) in the province.
The newly appointed medical directors and hospital directors didn’t bother to come out of their well-furnished offices and restore emergency services in their respective hospitals.They knew about paramedics’ strike as the announcement was made a day earlier, but even then they could not make alternative arrangements for OPDs and important surgical procedures.
Also, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government didn’t ask these toothless medical and hospital directors why the doctors stayed away from services when the paramedics were on strike.Since mostly poor patients usually come to the public sector hospitals, they suffered a lot due to strike of the paramedics.
Patients came from far-flung areas to the tertiary care hospitals were met with utter disappointment when came to know about strike at the hospitals.All surgical procedures were cancelled in these hospitals, leaving the patients to suffer.
The protesting paramedics also kept closed the outpatient departments (OPDs), laboratories, ECGs, Echo machines, physiotherapy, CT Scan and MRI machines in the hospitals.
“It was painful as we could not help the patients at the emergency. Though a few doctors were performing duty at the emergency, they could not provide services as they lacked the laboratory, X-ray and ultrasound facilities at the hospitals,” a doctor at the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) told The News.
Similar was the case in LRH and HMC and ATH, according to doctors.Also, the cardiologists in LRH and HMC didn’t MC HMC perform angiography and angioplasty procedures while the cardiac surgeons at the lone cardiovascular facility of the entire province in LRH could not operate upon patients.
The paramedics had set up a protest camp at the LRH where representatives from all over the province had gathered.Though they had announced to continue their strike till a summary about acceptance of their demands is issued, they later held talks with officials of the health department and called off their protest.
The association president Johar Ali, provincial chairman Sirajuddin Burki, secretary general Syed Roeedad Shah along with other off-bearers negotiated with special secretary health.Officials of the health department told them that since they had started protest against delay in issuing of summary by the finance department, the finance department on Wednesday sent it to the health department and they would now expedite work on it to satisfy them.
The Paramedical Association that is stated to be a representative body of around 13000 paramedics working at the public sector hospitals of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had been striving for a proper service structure and upgradation of their service for the past many years.