RAWALPINDI: Patients continued to suffer due to the ongoing strike observed byyoung doctorsin three government-run hospitals in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.

According to sources, officials from the divisional administration visited the hospitals but reportedly did little to engage the Young Doctors Association (YDA) to resume services at the Outpatient Departments (OPDs).

On the call of the YDA Punjab, young doctors boycotted the OPDs at HolyFamily Hospital (HFH), Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) and Rawalpindi Teaching Hospital (RT H) Raja Bazaar in protest against the Punjab government`s plan to outsource public hospitals.

As a result of the strike, patients at the three hospitals endured severe hardship.

They had to wait for long hours as the doctors did not report to their respective rooms to attend to them.

During visits to the hospitals, it was observed that young doctors had abandoned their duties, causing hundreds of patients at the OPDs to face difficulties.

The hospital administrations directed patients to the emergency departments for treatment, but those were overcrowded and many patients returned home without receiving medical attention.

Saleem Ahmed, a patient at HFH, said he came from Eidgah to seek treatment for asthma but found no one in the OPD. He said private clinics charge high fees which he could not afford, sohe came to the hospital.

At Rawalpindi Teaching Hospital, patients criticised the strike and said the government had failed to provide better healthcare despite its claims.

They noted that doctors often go on strike every month.

`Mostly the poor come to government-run hospitals for medical treatment, but there are no facilities here, said Riaz Khan, a patient at BBH.

On the other hand, Rawalpindi Commissioner Amir Khattak visited Holy Family Hospital and Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Shehryar Sherazi visited Benazir Bhutto Hospital, inspecting wards and the emergency departments.

`Additional deputy commissioner visited BBH, took pictures of the wards and left without speaking to the doctors,` said YDA BBH President Aarif Aziz while talking to Dawn.

He said that although doctors were on strike, neither the divisional administration nor the hospital administra-tion had contacted them. He said Tuesday marked the ninth day of the YDA`s OPD strike in Rawalpindi`s three major teaching hospitals.

`This protest is not about salaries. It is solely against the outsourcing of hospitals. We will not allow the privatisation of healthcare. If hospitals are outsourced, poor patients will be deprived of affordable treatment,` he said.

He added that medical education and training would be negatively affected and that the employment and working conditions of doctors would deteriorate.

`Our struggle is for public welfare and the protection of government institutions. The OPD strike will continue until the government formally ends the outsourcing plan,` he said.

In response to a question, he said the YDA had not withdrawn its services from the wards and emergency departments and would continue serving patients there. However, the OPD strike would continue until their demands were met.