Patients suffer as strike observed at Bhitai hospital over brawl, rampage.

HYDERABAD -- Patients faced great hardship in getting medical care facilities at the Shah Bhitai Hospital, Latifabad, due to a strike observed by young doctors, paramedics and other staff on Tuesday over an incident a day earlier in which its outgoing medical superintendent, along with his companions, allegedly manhandled and harassed the administrative staff and ransacked their office.

The joint protest was led by the Young Doctors Association and the Paramedical Staff Union. They boycotted hospital's OPD and staged a rally on the hospital's premises.

The protest affected hospital's working and caused trouble to patients coming from Hyderabad city and its outskirts for medical care.

Speaking to the protesters, YDA's Dr Saleem Masood (president), Dr Rameez (general secretary), Dr Qadeer Mahar and Dr Fayaz Magsi; and Paramedical Staff Union's Mubeen Qureshi condemned the incident and demanded action against those responsible for the ransacking. They said [the outgoing MS] Dr Iqbal Jagirani demonstrated an aggressive attitude which would not be tolderated.

They said security at the hospital should be beefed up.

Soon after the incident, the additional director general of health services, Sindh, had notified a three-member committee to look into the matter.

The committee was supposed to submit its report within 24 hours (Tuesday). headed by the director of health services, its other members the medical superintendent Sindh Govt Hospital, Qasimabad, and assistant director (monitoring and evaluation), at the office of the DG Health Services.

It is pertinent to mention here that on Monday, Dr Jagirani, who was transferred as MS on May 12, came to the hospital to, according to him, hand over the charge to the newly posted MS, Dr Dilip Kumar.

Dr Jagirani...