LAHORE, Jan 17: A group of young doctors allegedly tortured an employee at the OPD of the Children’s Hospital on Thursday for issuing slips to the parents of the ailing children during strike.

In a somewhat similar incident at the Jinnah Hospital, some YDA activists ‘forced’ their colleagues to leave the OPD and set up a camp outside it.

On the call of the Young Doctors Association Punjab, the doctors observed strike at the state-run hospitals, resorting to aggression for the acceptance of their demands. They were protesting against registration of a criminal case against their colleagues who roughed up the Gujranwala DHQ hospital medical superintendent and other senior doctors.

More than 30 doctors led by YDA’s Dr Nasir Bukhari thrashed receptionist Zulfiqar Ahmad at the Children’s Hospital OPD on Thursday morning. The doctors also damaged computers installed at the OPD to maintain record of the patients for not suspending health services during strike.

Witnesses and employees said senior admin officials of the hospital were also present when the incident took place.

Earlier, they said, Children’s Hospital Medical Director Ehsan Waheed Rathore and senior professors of the institute held a meeting at 9am with representatives of the YDA on the issue of treating the ailing children.

“At 10am young doctors came out of the meeting room, removed power cables from the computers and forced me and my two other colleagues to stop issuing slips to the patients,” Zulfiqar told Dawn. He said the hospital’s senior admin officials present there also shifted the staff of the OPD to the emergency.

“After some time an on-duty DMS, Dr Hamid asked me to reach the OPD and resume work. Meanwhile, a group of over 30 young doctors led by Dr Nasir reached there and they first hurled abuses at me and later thrashed me for issuing slips to the patients,” said Zulfiqar who added that no senior admin official rescued him.

He said his pregnant colleague, Ayesha, who was attending to a patient at the reception, suffered stress and was immediately taken for treatment. “I have submitted an application to the Children’s Hospital MD for action against the assailant doctors,” he said.

Dr Rathore told Dawn that he had constituted a committee of senior (admin) officials to probe the incident.

JINNAH HOSPITAL: Several gynaecology patients faced an embarrassing situation when Jinnah Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Fazlur Rehman, along with armed policemen, reached the OPD to review the healthcare arrangements, a source said.

He said the lady doctors who were attending to the patients at the stretchers and beds turned angry on seeing the strangers (policemen) and raised an objection.

An on-duty senior gynaecologist, Dr Ihsan Kazmi asked the MS and policemen to leave the place for the sanctity of the women lying there. Shortly after the incident, a group of young doctors also visited the place and forced their colleagues to set up a camp outside the OPD.

Later on, the source said, the MS marked Dr Kazmi in the list of ‘absent’ doctors for daring to argue with him at the OPD.