Young Doctors’ Association (YDA) on Monday took out a protest rally against Children’s Hospital administration for not resolving the issue of alleged corruption in the Service for Emergency Medical Services (SEMS) fund on Monday.
The protestors were joined by YDA chapters from other teaching hospitals in Lahore including, Jinnah Hospital and Lahore General Hospital.
The demonstration on Ferozepur Road went on for over an hour and chanted slogans against the Health Department and the hospital administration.
“SEMS was started for doctors and paramedics working in emergency departments of teaching hospitals in 2004. Doctors and nurses at the hospital haven’t received the fund for years. The payment is equal to half of the basic salary. The hospital administration has embezzled millions of rupees from this fund. We have been protesting against this corruption and against misappropriation at Gastro Ward run by Professor Huma Cheema for 25 days but the department has so far paid no heed. If our concerns are not we will adopt a new protest strategy,” said Dr Khuzaima Arslan, an office bearer of YDA.
“The health secretary has granted an ex-Pakistan leave to Professor Huma Cheema despite the fact that he had ordered an inquiry into irregularities at the ward. The report of the inquiry was to be released in a week.
We have yet to hear from the department. Our medical director Ahsan Waheed Rathore also went on an ex-Pakistan leave for 10 days and returned. It seems as if the issue of corruption is being pushed under the carpet by the department and the hospital,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 6th, 2014.