Docs’ strike cripples OPD services

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 17

On a call of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) for a nationwide protest against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, doctors of both government and private hospitals went on strike today.

The IMA had announced a 24-hour nationwide withdrawal of non-emergency services from 6 am. While the essential services and casualty wards functioned as normal, the out patient departments (OPDs) remained shut and no elective surgeries were conducted.

At the PGI, a total of 162 in-house patients were examined at the OPDs and 118 patients were provided treatment at emergency and trauma OPDs. A total of 91 surgeries were conducted, followed by 13 cath procedures, 35 endoscopies and 23,266 lab investigations. As many as 542 patients were attended to at Emergency Ward.

Doctors staged a protest at the Sector 17 Plaza. They marched from the PGI raising slogans with regard to enhanced security for women staff. The protesters handed over a memorandum to the Director, PGI.

As their strike entered its fifth day today, OPD services for both old and new patients remained closed, while emergency and critical care services continued at the PGI, Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32; and Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16. The faculty association of the PGI also supported the strike call. At the GMCH, the faculty welfare body observed a pen-down strike in the OPD from 9 am to 11 am.

Patients, who had come from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, had a tough time. Sources claimed that the OPD service at the Fortis hospital, Phase 8; and the Max hospital, Phase 6, Mohali, remained suspended. Doctors from all nearby private hospitals also joined the protest.

“I was expecting to get medical care at the ENT OPD of the PGI. I came to know about the strike after reaching here. The doctors at Emergency Ward provided me with first aid and asked me to wait for a while. I am going back to my home town,” said Aniket Gupta.

“I was scheduled to visit Sector 32 today for a follow-up of my broken arm. However, I was asked to come again tomorrow. I was not the only one to return without getting examined. A large number of patients were sent back without proper treatment,” said Salesh Kumar, a resident of Sector 39.