Patients at major medical teaching institutions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continue to bear the brunt of repeated strikes by healthcare workers, while government-formed committees to address the underlying issues often fail to deliver lasting solutions, as per media reports. The latest incident was a four-day strike by the Young Doctors Association (YDA) at Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), which began on July 24 over allegations of illegal appointments and corruption.
The strike was called off on July 29 after the health department assured the doctors that a high-level inquiry would be conducted into the allegations. However, the inquiry has yet to begin. During the four-day strike, thousands of patients were reportedly affected, surgeries were postponed, and diagnostic investigations were not conducted at the 1,200-bed hospital.
HMC also houses the Institute of Kidney Diseases (IKD), Pakistan Institute of Community Ophthalmology (PICO) and Burns and Plastic Surgery Centre (B&PSC), making the disruption particularly significant for patients requiring specialised treatment.
IKD conducts around two kidney transplants every day, while hundreds of patients visit PICO and B&PSC each day for surgeries, examinations and other medical services. The report also highlighted the practice of institution-based practice (IBP), under which doctors provide consultations at the same hospitals during evening hours after charging patients a consultation fee.
The rooms used for IBP are generally the same ones where patients are examined in the outpatient departments during the morning, although these facilities remain inaccessible to patients during the morning hours. The report also recalled a strike by doctors earlier in March this year over the alleged non-implementation of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Healthcare Service Providers and Facilities (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act, 2020.
Strikes at medical teaching institutions were frequently initiated and called off after a few days, but inquiries into such incidents were rarely conducted, and medical staff responsible for disrupting services were generally not held accountable. Doctors, nurses and paramedics often resorted to strikes over issues that could potentially be resolved through negotiations.
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