PROTEST of doctors and paramedical staff has become a rou
tine affair in our country – the sufferers of which indeed are the poor patients. For over two weeks, nurses under the banner of Sindh Nurses Alliance are protesting throughout the province for an increase in salaries, promotions and hike in nursing student stipends. They are boycotting emergency services, intensive care units, paediatric intensive care units, paediatric emergencies, cardiac intensive care units and other services at the hospitals across Sindh province. As a result the patients are facing great difficulties in getting timely treatment.
Thursday saw the nurses and police clashing with each other. As the protesting nurses tried to reach the CM House they met with water cannons and baton charging by police. Provincial Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah while taking notice of the nurses’ protest ordered the release of the arrested protestors. Firstly, we fully agree that the paramedical staff deserves better salary packages and perks and for this we will ask the provincial authorities to sit with the Sindh Nurses Alliance to meet their genuine and realistic demands. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has always raised voice for the protection of rights of labourers and salaried class and we expect this matter will also be resolved sooner rather than later. Secondly, it is also for the nurses and doctors to keep the purity and sanctity of their sacred profession in mind before taking to streets and closing the services at the public sector hospitals. In fact the nursing profession is more demanding and challenging. Nurses in fact are the face of any hospital. They need to be more empathetic and compassionate towards the patients but it is unfortunate that most of the patients always complain about the rough attitude and behaviour of the nurses working in government hospitals. So whilst the nurses demand better perks, it is also for them to perform their duties as per the requirement of their profession. It is also for the provincial governments to evolve a proper mechanism for the enhancement of salary and perks of doctors and paramedical staff so that they could better perform their duties without any stress. This mechanism must also envisage strict action against the staff resorting to closure of services at hospitals.
