The Punjab health department has issued appointment letters on ‘locum basis’ (temporary) to 450 doctors to perform duties in emergency situations in the public teaching hospitals of the province, including those of Lahore.
Of 450 doctors, 25 were the consultants/senior registrars (SRs) besides male and female medical officers.
As per the scheme, the SR/consultant shall be paid Rs10,000 and medical officer/women medical officer Rs8,000 per shift/eight working hours.
The University of Health Sciences (UHS) Lahore has so far registered 4,500 doctors, including consultants and medical officers/women medical officers, following the strike call of the Young Doctors Association (YDA) at the public teaching hospitals of Punjab.
An official, privy to the development, says that the locum hiring is followed all over the world, including the USA, the UK and the Gulf as their health establishments hire locum tenens physicians and other part-time clinicians to fill the vacancies to meet the staff shortages.
