Doctors’ strike day 2: Calls for justice echo across Delhi’s hospitals, patient care hit
Across Delhi and Central government hospitals, doctors are protesting against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata’s R G Kar Medical College and Hospital
Doctors protest at RML Hospital (left); operations at AIIMS OPD were hit (right). (Express Photo by Amit Mehra) It’s 11 am on Tuesday. The registration counter at the Rajkumari Amrit Kaur outpatient department (OPD) in AIIMS is as busy as ever. Sitting nearby are an exhausted Prem Kumar Rastogi (65), a cancer patient, and his wife Babli. Rastogi is writhing in pain while Babli is frantically making calls to secure an appointment with a doctor. Around them, several anxious patients, some carrying their luggage, walk about, trying desperately to meet their doctor.
This is the scene at India’s premier hospital where patient care has been impacted severely due to the ongoing doctors’ strike against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. It’s the second day of the strike.
Rastogi and his wife said they stood in a queue since 2 am before getting an appointment in the oncology OPD. He met the doctor in the morning and was then referred to the urology department. There, he was asked to get a new registration card and was eventually given an appointment — in September.
A daily wage labourer from Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad, Rastogi was being treated for prostate cancer at a local hospital back home when the doctors told him to go to AIIMS.
Worried about his condition, Babli, who accompanied him, said Prem was suffering from extreme stomach pain and blood in his urine. “Officials at the urology OPD counter told us doctors are only seeing follow-up patients, and not new ones, because of the strike,” she added.
Like Prem, many patients who walked in for a consultation at AIIMS couldn’t avail of treatment owing to the indefinite strike.
While the Calcutta High Court has ordered a CBI investigation in this case — a major demand of the protesting doctors — the strike is set to continue on Wednesday. On Tuesday evening, resident doctors’ associations (RDAs) of AIIMS, Ram Manohar Lohia, Safdarjung and Lok Nayak hospitals announced that the protest will go on as their other demand, which is the central protection act for health professionals, is yet to be confirmed by the Centre.
Meanwhile, the AIIMS Delhi administration warned its protesting resident doctors against holding any demonstration in or around the campus as it was in violation of High Court directions and amounts to contempt of court.
Patients bear the brunt
At AIIMS, doctors only saw those with follow-up appointments. Due to the strike, patient registrations in the OPD fell by 66% while admissions dropped by 65%. A major slump was reported in surgeries with a 90% reduction. Radiological and lab services fell by 45% and 25% respectively. AIIMS sees around 10,000 patients per day. At many centres, lights were switched off after 10.30 am. At the Dr Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, only consultants and faculty members saw 224 patients.
At the adjacent Safdarjung Hospital too, OPD patients were seen only by consultants while registration at the counters was cut short by an hour. The usual registration time is between 8.30 am and 11.30 am. Afternoon clinics, evening OPDs, and consultation for CGHS (Central Government Health Scheme) patients were stopped. Elective surgeries and diagnostic services too remained restricted.
Many patients, however, came to the OPD unaware that there was a strike. Lal Singh (40) came to Delhi from UP’s Rampur in the afternoon for a nerve-related issue he had been facing for a long time. “We were not aware of the strike, else we wouldn’t have come here,” he said. “Now, I will have to spend the entire night in the hospital.”
Angry, scared, say doctors
Meanwhile, demands for justice echoed across hospitals. Expressing her anger over the incident, Dr Sakshi Chaudhary, an anaesthetist at Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital, said it’s time the government looks into how female doctors are at risk during night shifts. “It is a scary and risky situation when we are put on night shifts. What can a couple of security guards do if two to five people come and do something to us?” she questioned.
Sakshi said lights in a major portion of the hospital are switched off at night, forcing them to navigate “dark corridors and ramps while going from one department to another”. “We do not feel safe but we have to learn and grow,” she added.
According to Dr Indra Shekhar Prasad, AIIMS RDA president: “A woman who was on duty was sexually assaulted and murdered brutally… if such incidents happen at workplaces, how will women work?…”
At Delhi government’s Lok Nayak Hospital, OPD services were restricted and consultants looked after patients. Hospital medical director Dr Suresh Kumar said the administration was given a notice by the Federation of Resident Doctors Association and the Lok Nayak RDA that all resident doctors will be on strike Tuesday. “They will not participate in OPD services. In such a situation, we have made special arrangements where consultants, specialists and chief medical officers look after the patients in the OPDs so they don’t face any problems,” he added.
Kumar said the hospital is on high alert regarding the safety of doctors and the staff. “Last night, between 11 pm and 12 am, I inspected the security system… A meeting was also held with Delhi Police officers,” he added.
The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) called for a nationwide shutdown of OPD services from August 13.
Later in the night, the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA), a professional association for resident doctors in India, called off the strike. Their representatives also met Union Health Minister JP Nadda Tuesday evening. FORDA members in various central and Delhi government hospitals will resume work from Wednesday.
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