Most of the patients shifted their ailing children to the private health facilities after repeated attacks of the agitating doctors at the indoor and emergency department of Children’s Hospital.
The agitating doctors, however, called off their strike at 4pm on Thursday after a ‘successful’ dialogue with the Punjab government.
Such an alarming number of deaths at the Children’s Hospital, the only healthcare institution offering specialised care of minors in Punjab, took place on March 29 and 30 when the striking doctors had withdrawn all kinds of health services from all 42 departments of the institution, including emergency, ICU-CCU and operation theatres.
The number of deaths is said to be double the figure at the hospital in normal days when the emergency, ICU-CCU departments and operation theatres are fully functional with full attendance of the doctors and other staff.
A source said that according to the statistics compiled by the administration branch of Children’s Hospital, out of the total 41 children who died in two days of the closure of all the critical care departments, 19 babies died on March 29 and 22 children on March 30.
Of these, the source said 13 deaths — six on March 29 and seven on March 30 — occurred alone at the hospital’s emergency department.
The data shows 11 children had died at the hospital on March 28, before the withdrawal of critical care by the protesting doctors. The source said on an average, 10 to 12 children died at the hospital daily when all its departments were functional.
The death toll, however, failed to move the Punjab government led by Shahbaz Sharif, who has otherwise built his image as a ‘strict administrator’, as so far no departmental action has been taken against the leadership of the Young Doctors Association, the body which had given the strike call.
“You are devil not a doctor. How many more innocent babies will you kill?” the mother of a dead baby was witnessed wailing in the face of striking doctors outside the Children’s Hospital emergency department, who were dragging parents of sick children out of the facility on Thursday morning.
Scores of other visitors, mostly parents of ailing children, who were also denied access to the emergency department, came forward in support of the grieved mother and condemned the doctors’ attitude.
They later blocked Ferozepur Road for traffic and continued the agitation for an hour. Police later dispersed the protesters, assuring them that “justice will be done”.
An office-bearer of YDA’s Punjab chapter, Dr Abubkr Gondal, said the decision to withdraw emergency services and deny critical care to patients was taken as a last resort.
“We have no option but to take this step as our colleagues were arrested and tortured by the police during a peaceful demonstration on March 29 on The Mall. We were not willing to put the lives of the patients at grave risk, but it was the only way left to put pressure on the government for a special pay package for the doctors,” Dr Gondal said.
To a question about the deaths, particularly of 41 children at Children’s Hospital, in two days of the closure of emergency and ICU-CCU, he said though the association felt sorry for the families of the deceased children, the health bureaucracy and the Punjab government were responsible for these deaths.
Hospital’s Medical Director Dr Ahsan Waheed Rathore dispelled the impression that the death ratio increased, particularly in two days of complete strike by the doctors. He said 12-16 patients died daily at the institution in normal days.
He said ‘only’ eight children died during the last 24 hours at the hospital, adding the senior doctors had been providing treatment to the children in the absence of junior medics at the emergency and ICU-CCU.
Tarun