KP doctors to boycott COVID-19 duty

PESHAWAR: Ad-hoc doctors threatened to boycott COVID-19 duty in health facilities in protest of their service's non-regularisation.

The ad hoc doctors said they would boycott all duties, except emergency services, if the government didn't accept their demand to make their jobs permanent within a fortnight.

Dr Naveed Farooq Wazir, general secretary of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ad hoc Medical Officers Association, indicated that around 800 doctors had worked on a contract basis for the last two years. He stated that their services should be regularised in accordance with the government's commitments to them.

He claimed that all ad hoc doctors performed COVID-19-related responsibilities to the best of their abilities, especially in rural areas.

Dr Naveed mentioned that the ad hoc had encountered issues receiving their salary on time since their induction. He remarked that they had to wait four months for their next extension despite their better performance. He claimed that the doctors infected their families as a result of their constant contact with COVID-19-19 patients in hospitals.

Dr Naveed remarked that doctors repeatedly conveyed their demands to the health department to have their concerns answered expeditiously but to no effect. He inferred that physicians were experiencing financial difficulties and employment uncertainty.