MINGORA: Paramedics in the Saidu Teaching Hospital boycotted duty after a scuffle with attendants of a patient on Tuesday.

According to eyewitness, a severely injured man was brought to the orthopedic operation theatre of the hospital. They said due to delay in the treatment of the man by the medical staff, family members got agitated and started abusing the staff.

Responding to the harsh words by the people, the paramedical staff also started using abusive language which ultimately resulted in a scuffle.

`We admitted our injured patient to the hospital and brought all the needed medicines, but he was not attended by any medical staffer on which we protested,` Mohammad Irshad, a relative of the patient, said, alleging that the paramedics beat up the patient and refused to treat him. Many other attendants of the patients also accused the medical staff of being ill-mannered and not attending patients in time.

`Despite several complaints to the officials concerned no action is taken against the arrogant paramedics,` Iftikhar Ahmad, a family member of another patient, said.

However, Riaz Ali Khan, the president of the paramedical association of the hospital, said the family members of the patient started beating the paramedics in the orthopedic ward and injured two of them. `They also broke the windowpanes and furniture of the ward,` he said, adding the paramedics boycotted their duty to protest the incident.

To resolve the matter, officials of the district administration and district nazim reached the hospital and started dialogue with the paramedical staff but failed to motivate them to resume their duty. Correspondent