Doctors escalate strike after LRH assault

The Neutral Doctors Community has intensified its ongoing strike by announcing a full boycott of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa hospitals, declaring that doctors will now leave their workplaces and return home for their own safety following a violent incident at Lady Reading Hospital. Speaking at a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday, Community Chairman Dr Adnan Afridi said the organisation had been observing a pen-down strike for the past 24 days to press for a 30 per cent increase in basic salaries. The latest decision came after security personnel allegedly assaulted peaceful protesting doctors at LRH the previous day. "Yesterday's attack by security guards acting on the administration's orders has proved that doctors are no longer safe even inside their own hospitals," Dr Afridi said. Accompanied by colleagues from LRH, Hayatabad Medical Complex, Khyber Teaching Hospital and other facilities across the province, he announced that doctors would now combine the pen-down strike with a complete withdrawal from hospital wards. Under the new plan, only one doctor will remain on duty in each ward while emergency services will continue to be covered so that patients are not left without critical care. "We are not abandoning patients," Dr Afridi stressed. "Emergency cover will be maintained, but the rest of the medical staff will return home to protect themselves." The doctors' leader accused the provincial health department of deliberately stalling negotiations. He said officials repeatedly summoned the community for talks only to ask them to wait or form yet another committee, thereby wasting time while the core demand remained unmet. "Our committee already exists," Dr Afridi said. "The 30 per cent salary increase is our fundamental right, yet the K-P government continues to ignore it. Until this demand is fulfilled, the protest will continue." He issued a stern warning that any attempt to harass doctors in their homes would be met with firm resistance. "If anyone tries to intimidate doctors who are staying at home, they will be dealt with by our own hands," he declared. Dr Afridi further alleged that the health secretary and other senior officials had been deceiving the doctors under the guise of dialogue. From now on, the community would negotiate exclusively with the Chief Minister and no one else. "We will not hold talks with any other official," he said. "Our protest will remain in force until the government grants the 30 per cent raise in basic salaries." The Neutral Doctors Community's decision marks a significant escalation in the month-long standoff that has already disrupted routine services in major public hospitals across the province. Health authorities have yet to issue an official response to the latest announcement.