Doctors' protest against devolution: 200 surgeries deferred at JPMC

Doctors and other employees of the recently devolved Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) again made the patients to suffer, as 200 surgeries were deferred in the facility on Thursday due to the boycott of doctors and other staffs of operation theatres and other department against the devolution of JPMC to the province from centre.
A complete boycott of JPMC emergency, operation theatre, x-ray, ultrasound, CT scan, out patients department (OPDs) and other services was observed while a precession was taken out from JPMC by the protesting doctors and other paramedical staffs to press for their demands. They staged a sit-in on Shahrah-e-Faisal suspending vehicular traffic for half-an-hour on the busiest thoroughfare of the city.
They were demanding to reverse the resent decision of transferring JPMC, NICH, NICVD to province under the devolution plan as per the 18th Amendment to the constitution, besides payment of their outstanding allowances and salaries. The steering committee of JPMC, NICH, and NICVD is backing the doctors protesting against the devolution of the three hospitals, arguing that these hospitals were hit by financial crisis after the devolution, as salaries and stipends of postgraduates, house officers, trainee nurses besides allowance of other employees could not be paid for several months.
However, another group of doctors and other hospital staff comprised Young Doctors Association, Young Nurses Association and others opposed the strike, accusing the hospital administration of exploiting doctors and paramedical staffs for their vested interests.
When contacted Dr Salman, Chairman Steering Committee JPMC, told Business Recorder that devolution of JPMC was totally against the spirit of the constitution, saying research and teaching institutes could not be devolved under 18th amendment. He informed that house requisitions allowances had not been released for the last five month. The Steering Committee will meet again on Monday to evolve further line of action against the devolution of JPMC, he said.
Chairman, Young Nurses Association, Akhtar Joya, demanded immediate release of their blocked house hiring allowances. He noted that JPMC administration deducted Rs 2700 from the monthly salary of the nurses under the head of house rent that directly given to the house owner of rented house after every six months.
He informed that administration of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre had not released house hiring allowance of nurses for last eighteen months, creating accommodation problems for the nurses. Sources said that government had released a grant of Rs 20 millions for payment of house hiring allowances of nurses some five months back but the JPMC administration utilised the funds on other means.