In Delhi, 20,000 resident doctors skip work and hit streets, patients bear brunt

Like her, hundreds of patients across Delhi faced a tough time, as more than 20,000 resident doctors from government hospitals went on strike and refrained from attending OPDs and other routine services. Medical practitioners were protesting against the National Medical Commission (NMC) bill passed in the Rajya Sabha with some amendments Thursday.

The Bill aims to replace the graft-tainted Medical Council of India, and proposes a common final-year MBBS examination — the National Exit Test (NEXT) —for admission to post-graduate medical courses and to obtain a licence to practise medicine.

Sleeping on a mat outside G B Pant hospital’s OPD was Sushila Prasad, crying because of a stomach ache. “She’s been in tremendous pain for the last few months. Doctors in Lucknow said she has stomach cancer in February and we came to Delhi to verify. Doctors are supposed to check and tell us whether we need surgery or not,” said her husband Bindra Prasad, who has been unemployed since his wife fell sick six months ago.

Resident doctors from AIIMS, RML and Safdarjung held marches and raised slogans as the bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha. Doctors marched from Safdarjung to the AIIMS flyover, and later to the Parliament, where they were detained.

Another group of doctors, associated with the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA), who had planned to march to the Parliament from RML Hospital, were prevented from venturing out, said Dr Sunil Arora, the body’s general secretary.

The Delhi government-run Lok Nayak and GTB hospitals saw zero OPD attendance. Both hospitals attended emergency cases while routine surgeries were cancelled. “In the absence of doctors, we are managing the patient load. We ensured no emergency case is turned away,” Dr Kishore Singh, medical director of Lok Nayak hospital, said.

Resident doctors from Delhi government hospitals and AIIMS will be on strike today as well.