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Offline fizza bano

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PIMS nurses end strike
« on: April 30, 2010, 08:59:29 AM »
PIMS nurses end strike
Islamabad:In a late Thursday night development, nurses and student nurses of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) called off their strike after amicable resolution of the nursing crisis by the Ministry for Health.

The strike was called off after a meeting held in the Ministry of Health, with Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin in the chair. The meeting was also attended by Additional Secretary Health Agha Nadeem, Director General Health Dr. Rashid Jooma, Joint Secretaries Health Sher Ayub and Sohail Saqlain, and representatives of the nurses.

According to the document of agreement reached between the Ministry of Health and the nurses’ delegation, an immediate inquiry has been ordered into the issue and a notification for suspension of the former executive director of PIMS Dr. Ghazala Mehmood, a security guard, and the Chief Medical Officer Dr. Liaquat has been issued.

The document states that the Minister for Health will take the summary for enhancement of the nurses’ stipend to the prime minister and have a raise implemented before May 15. It also states that there will be no victimisation against the protesting nurses; that lady doctors residing in the nurses’ hostel will vacate the premises by May 3; and that further action will be instituted against the former ED after release of the medico-legal certificates of injured nurses by the Federal Government Polyclinic.

Earlier in the day, however, patients were in a quandary as the nursing crisis that erupted at PIMS on April 28, deepened when the hospital’s junior and senior doctors forged unity in their ranks to pass a resolution for immediate reinstatement of the former acting ED of PIMS. The ex-ED claims to have tendered her resignation in the interest of patients from a professional perspective, and pressure from the Ministry of Health at an overarching level.

Caring two hoots about the impact of their decision on hapless patients visiting the tertiary care hospital from far and wide, doctors quit their clinics in the Out-Patient Departments for participation in a strike to express solidarity with the former ED.

The resolution, which was passed by a majority of the senior doctors and members of the Young Doctor’s Association, had several salient demands; one, the Ministry of Health should withdraw the order of Prof. Ghazala’s resignation and reinstate her with immediate effect; two, Prof. Mehmood Jamal should desist from holding the ED’s office as a mark of unity with doctors and staff; three, a fact-finding inquiry should be conducted into the matter; four, the ‘false FIR’ registered against Dr. Ghazala should be withdraw; and five, the Ministry of Health should take responsibility for lack of support in the administrative affairs of PIMS and for the manner in which Dr. Ghazala has been publicly disgraced and forced to resign.

The resolution also condemned the act of physical violence against assistant professor neurology Dr. Sohail Rao, and Dr. Ghazala, and desired action on all these demands within the next 24 hours. The protesting doctors then went to the ED’s office and raised slogans for her restoration.

The nurses were as adamant as ever in their demands. They wanted an attempted murder case to be registered against Dr. Ghazala so that she ends up behind the bars. “Only then will we agree to a table talk,” one of their representatives categorically stated. “We want our self-respect. Nurses who were injured when the ED’s car ran them down were refused treatment in the Emergency of their very own hospital,” she said. They also stated that there can be no negotiations with teams visiting from the Ministry of Health because they do not have the powers to accept their demands.

Dr. Ghazala, on the other hand, claimed having received three calls from three joint secretaries of the Ministry of Health on April 28. “One of them suggested that we find a solution to the crisis; the second one told me to resign; and the third one gave me the number on which to fax my resignation,” she told ‘The News.’ She said that being a doctor, she decided to tender her resignation in the interest of patient care, but was surprised to see that rather than ending their strike, the nurses continue to be on the road.

Referring to the April 28 incident, Dr. Ghazala alleged that the protesting nurses attacked her car as a mob, at which she asked her driver to manoeuvre the vehicle forward. “Someone may have been hurt in the process but it was not intentional,” she clarified.

Talking to this correspondent on condition of anonymity, several senior doctors attributed the current crisis to utter failure across all tiers of hospital management. “We need to get rid of intrigue. We need a leadership that is fair to the profession because unless that happens, PIMS is doomed,” one senior consultant remarked. They also expressed serious reservations about doctors demanding immediate reinstatement of Dr. Ghazala. “If the former ED had not succumbed to the alleged pressure of the Ministry of Health, there would have been every reason for us to support her. In the present case, she herself has tendered her resignation, and as such, should withdraw it herself. What has the Ministry of Health got to do with it,” a senior doctor asked.

Another senior consultant stressed that doctors should join hands for patient care and not petty personality-driven politics. “What you see at PIMS are mere symptoms; the actual disease is greed for power, ill will and lack of commitment and visionary leadership,” he diagnosed. Some senior health professionals held the Ministry of Health responsible for aggravation of the crisis. “The Ministry should have heard the nurses on day one because they had not been getting their petty stipend for the third consecutive month. This incident reflects complete failure of the health management,” one of them remarked.

Earlier in the day, Parliamentary Secretary for Health Mehreen Razzak Bhutto also met the protesting nurses outside the Parliament House. She assured them that an inquiry would be conducted into the matter and that doctors would not be allowed accommodation in the nurses’ hostel. But the nurses demanded everything in black and white, which they ultimately succeeded in obtaining. Two of the nurses, who fainted because of continuous exposure to the scorching heat, were taken to the Federal Government Polyclinic for first aid.The news