March 31, 2008	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 22, 1429

VEHARI, March 30: Doctors of the DHQ Hospital have threatened to quit their jobs if their demands regarding the shortage of medical officers and paramedical staff remain unmet any longer.

Vehari’s PMA secretary-general Dr Maqsood Chaudhry told Dawn on Sunday that the shortage of required staff was badly affecting the hospital working.

He said the increased workload with minimum facilities was leading to surge in complaints against the doctors. He said a number of posts of doctors and paramedics had been lying vacant since 1995, but the health officials had not filled these vacancies despite repeated reminders.

Unable to bear the burden, he said, a doctor had already left the job while almost all doctors, including four consultants, had already submitted their resignations to the hospital administration.

He said mostly the seriously ill patients and accidents victims in critical condition were brought to hospital and doctors were blamed without any valid reason in case of their deaths.

Attendants submitted applications against the doctors to the district administration which were marked to officers without going into the matter, he said.

Dr Chaudhry alleged that doctors were summoned to the administration office and made to wait. On occasions, he said the doctors were summoned from far-flung places of the district like Mailsi and Burewala for the purpose of inquiry.

He said that doctors were humiliated and threatened by officials and attendants as well. He demanded that inquiry against any official should be conducted in the hospital through the EDO (health). The PMA secretary-general also called for police protection against some unscrupulous elements who threatened the CMO to issue medico-legal certificate of their liking.

A few days back, he said some people had forcibly taken two emergency ward doctors to their house for the checkup of a patient. Later, a complaint was lodged with the police, but to no avail.

When contacted, EDO (health) Dr Zulfiqar Bhango said that all demands of the doctors had been forwarded to the authorities concerned.