Interns, Class III, IV employees run the show at Sassoon Hospital

While the absence of resident doctors has crippled medical services in most government hospitals, the interns and Class III and IV employees are trying to do their best to run the show at Sassoon Hospital since the past two days.

Adamant:: Sassoon Hospital's Medical Superintendent DG Kulkarni said around 207 resident doctors have participated in the mass bunk, however, MARD claims that around 350 doctors are off work. File Pic

DG Kulkarni, medical superintendent of Sassoon Hospital said, "Due to the ongoing mass bunk called by the Maharashtra Association of the Resident Doctors (MARD), we have called interns, lecturers, associate professors, pre-clinical and para-clinical staff to help us out during this time of crisis. Even our Class III and IV workers are helping us a lot."

However, there's not much the interns can do due to lack of experience to handle critical and emergency cases. When this reporter visited the casualty section, a woman, who was bitten by a rodent, was brought there. But the interns didn't know how to deal with such a case and had to rush to the medical officer, who then guided him.

Another person who was brought to the hospital for an angiography was turned down due to lack of specialised doctors. "The doctor has given me today's appointment, but due to mass bunk the hospital staff asked me to come later and take a new appointment date," said the patient's relative.

As it's the patients who are bearing the brunt of the mass bunk, Dr Shashikant Swami, spokeperson of the MARD said, "We are the central committee of MARD and will decide our next move. The government had promised to increase our stipend, but then it didn't keep its words."u00a0