Medical services hit across Himachal Pradesh as doctors go on indefinite strike

Earlier, on Friday, the resident doctors across state had proceeded on a mass casual leave. The call to go on indefinite strike was taken despite Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu assuring a panel of doctors of conducting an enquiry into the matter.

Talking to reporters, IGMC Resident Doctors’ Association president Sohil Sharma said the termination has sent a negative message to the medical fraternity, which is feeling humiliated and unsafe.

“A doctor is also a human. We accept that there was misconduct, for which the doctor was suspended in six hours. But the termination in 48 hours based on the disciplinary committee report is not justified. Our only demand is revocation of the termination orders. A doctor knows the condition of patients. If someone demands that the doctor sees him first or get terminated, how will a doctor work?” he asked.

Sharma said that the strike has the support of the Medical Officers’ Association and RDAs of all medical colleges.

At IGMC, doctors staged a protest at the badminton court of the Atal Sabha Ghar raising slogans in support of Narula. Meanwhile, patients and attendants, especially those coming from remote locations, faced difficulties due to the unavailability of doctors, news agency PTI reported.

“I came here on Thursday from Ani, which is about 125 kilometres from Shimla, for my father’s treatment. But no doctors are available due to the strike,” said Krishan Singh Thakur.

The peak winter cold and unavailability of accommodation due to heavy tourist rush around the New Year are adding to their trouble, Thakur said, urging the government and the doctors to resolve the matter at the earliest in the interest of patients.

“My wife is admitted to the hospital. Her MRI was scheduled for today, but it has not been conducted yet as the strike has begun. We are waiting for the doctors to resume duty,” Dasvi Ram, attendant of another patient, told PTI.

Dr Archit Sharma, press secretary, RDA said that the OPD services will remain shut on Sunday too.

Announcing the strike, the RDA had said that routine services, elective operation theatres and OPD would remain closed and only emergency services would remain functional.

“The emergency services are functioning. Consultants — including assistant professors, associate professors and professors — are rendering services to indoor patients and OPD. However, there were some issues with regards to planned surgeries,” Dr Praveen Bhatia, Deputy Medical Superintendent, IGMC, said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Directorate of Medical Education and Research issued Standard Operating Procedures to provide uninterrupted health services, which included assigning OPD duties to consultants, ensuring residents on emergency duties are available round-the-clock and prioritising indoor patients.

The state government on Wednesday terminated the services of Narula after an internal probe held him guilty of “misconduct”, “misbehaviour” and “acts unbecoming of a public servant’. The probe, however, found both the patient — Arjun Singh (34) — and Narula — “responsible for the incident”.

On Saturday, a police team recorded the statements of patients, attendants admitted in the Pulmonary Male Ward where the alleged altercation between Narula and Singh took place on December 22.

SP Sanjeev Gandhi told The Indian Express, “Besides recording the statements, we are also in the process to secure digital evidence on which the alleged incident was recorded. The complaint of Dr Narula is also under investigation”.

Meanwhile, former chief minister and Leader of Opposition, Jai Ram Thakur, expressed concern over the ongoing resident doctors’ and ambulance workers’ strike, saying that the health services in the state were crippled. He warned that the state government would be solely responsible for any loss of life resulting from the crisis. Thakur, who was in Mandi, said, “The current situation pertaining to the health infrastructure in the state is worrisome. This situation is the result of the state government’s short-sightedness and one sided action.”

On Friday, the doctors had met Sukhu who assured action against the mob, which allegedly threatened the doctor inside the hospital and affected medical services. He also promised to bring new guidelines and directions to ensure the security of doctors inside hospitals.