Sick left in the lurch at PGI, narrate ordeal

Amarjot Kaur
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 17

The OPD services at the PGI were curtailed today by reducing the registration timings by two hours and those who had queued up at the counter from the wee hours were left in the lurch after the hospital doctors went on strike.

While most patients returned to their homes, there were some who chose to stay back. Taking a stopgap refuge from the scorching heat under the trees of well-manicured lawns at the PGI’s entrance, most of these patients and their families had arrived from neighbouring states, including Haryana, Punjab and Himachal. Even though the OPD wore a deserted look, with no doctors around, The Tribune came across a few patients who waited in the New OPD’s lobby.

Coming all the way from Amritsar, Paramjit Kaur had made it to the hospital’s New OPD well in time at 5 am and made a beeline at the registration counter. “My husband is very sick. He suffered a disc injury and now it’s infected with pus. He can’t even sit,” she said, pointing at a stretcher on which her husband lay. “I got the OPD card made, but now no doctor is available till Wednesday. I don’t even have a place to stay. For availing an accommodation at the serai here, one needs the signature of the doctor concerned, so I will be putting up here for two days until the doctor returns,” she said.

A similar worry haunted Rashtra Kumari (61), who had come from Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. “My husband is on dialysis. His kidneys aren’t functioning and I have nowhere to go. I had no idea about the strike and we left home at 1 am to queue up early here so that all formalities are dealt with on time. My husband was operated upon on June 3 and now we’ve come here for a check-up,” she said.

Rakesh Devi and her family had spread out a rug at the hospital lawn. “At 45 years of age, I travelled all the way from Saharanpur to get my liver checked. I can’t even walk. It’s terribly hot here and the weather’s only adding to my misery. By 11 am, I had the OPD card in my hand, but now there are no doctors. I’ll have to stay here because I can’t go back now; I don’t have the finances to make vile trips to fancy cities and hospitals,” she rued.

Somnath Sirohi (36) also rested at the hospital’s garden with his wife and three children. “My younger one, only six years of age, had burnt her hand and there’s some problem with the skin. We were asked to come for a follow-up. Now, we are told that the doctors will return to work on Wednesday,” he said. 

 What the hospital says

The emergency and critical areas of the PGI were, however, exempted from the strike. “While a total of 3,596 patients were registered in the OPD, 23 surgeries were performed till 5 pm. A contingency plan was devised to ensure the functioning of the institute. All emergency services, including labour room services and intensive care units, functioned in a routine manner as these services were exempted from the strike,” read an official statement from the PGI spokesperson. “More than 60 per cent of the staff was working on Monday, but not at the OPD.” 

PGI strike off 

In a turn of events, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accepted the demands of doctors in the state, suggesting a 10-point plan to ensure security at hospitals following which the PGI Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) called off the indefinite protest late on Monday night.