Doctors on strike, hospitals hit

NEW DELHI: The strike by resident doctors paralysed health services in many government-run hospitals in the city on Friday. Hindu Rao and GTB hospitals were the worst affected.
Though the emergency facilities were successfully managed by senior doctors, patients visiting these hospitals for routine consultations said they could not find any doctors in the OPDs.
“If the government does not give us a concrete answer on our demands, our strike will continue from Monday,” said Dr Dhiraj Aggarwal, member, Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA).
Sources said the director-general of health services from the central government and state health minister held meetings with the doctors’ association and assured them of prompt action. They reportedly asked the doctors to call off their strike.
On Friday, as resident doctors remained off-duty, the otherwise fully-occupied Hindu Rao hospital wore a deserted look. Ruchi (16) from Mukundpur, sat for nearly two hours hoping to get herself treated for fever. “I have high fever and am feeling really unwell, but no doctor is attending me,” she said.
Many others in the gynaecology ward were also asked to return home due to unavailability of the doctors.
Dinesh, whose wife had to be treated for severe abdominal pain, was completely hassled. He said, “The government should resolve this issue as soon as possible as it is causing hardships to the common man.”
A similar scene was witnessed at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in east Delhi. The staff at the H1N1 ward told TOI that no patients were being admitted for treatment due to the ongoing strike.
“This strike is not for us, we are demanding basic amenities and necessities for the patients so that we can serve them better,” said Dr Anshuman Raheja, a senior resident doctor at GTB Hospital.
On Sunday, the relatives of a patient manhandled a resident doctor at GTB Hospital triggering protests and finally leading to a strike. At Hindu Rao hospital, the doctors claim that they have not been paid last month’s salaries.
“The resident doctors are the backbone of any hospital but we are abused the most by the system. Many a times we have to work for 48 hours at a stretch without due compensation. There are only a few hostels for doctors and they too lack in basic facilities such as safe drinking water,” said Dr Balvinder Singh, president of FORDA.