Doctors go on strike; woman dies due to ‘delay’ in treatment

Tribune News Service 

New Delhi, May 26

Resident doctors of government hospitals went on a strike against the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission while a 70-year-old woman today died at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) here allegedly due to delay in treatment.

The Health Ministry is understood to have sought a report from the hospital administration on the allegations made by the deceased's relatives here. 

The deceased-Sapra Begum (70)- was this morning rushed to the hospital's emergency with respiratory distress around 11 am but died later as the doctors at the hospital's casualty failed to give her treatment on time, said her son Shabbir, a resident of Laxmi Nagar. 

"My mother's condition was very bad so we took her to LNJP. There we were told that due to strike there were no doctors and so we should take her to AIIMS. After waiting for hours, they gave her an injection, following which she started vomiting and died within 15 minutes," Shabbir said. 

However, when asked, CCMO Dr Ritu Saxena denied that there has been any delay on the part of the casualty department. 

"The patient had breathlessness for a week and when she came to the casualty, we had attended her. There was no delay in treatment from our side and we later handed over the patient to the medicine department's senior doctors. There was no negligence on the main casualty side and I have submitted the report to the MD along with CCTV footage," Dr Ritu Saxena told The Tribune. 

She said that as advised by the medicine department's doctors, the patient was administered "Lasix" injection for relief from respiratory problem. 

Docs demand NPA merger 

The striking resident doctors of various central and Delhi government hospitals have been demanding merger of the non-practicing allowance (NPA) with their basic salary contrary to what the Seventh Pay Commission has recommended. 

The doctors from Safdarjung, LNJPN, Ram Manohar Lohia and other Delhi government hospitals gathered at Lady Hardinge hospital and took out a protest march up to Jantar Mantar. 

"It is a one-day token strike to put pressure on authorities to consider our demand for the merger of the NPA with our basic salary. Earlier, the NPA was merged with basic salary. But after the seventh pay commission recommendations, it has been separated from basic salary," said Pankaj Solanki, president of the FORDA (Federation of Resident Doctors Association).