Patients suffer as doctors strike in public hospitals

The strike that began on Thursday and will continue today has the authorities worried for the safety of victims during Ganesh visarjan meanwhile several patients have no one to attend to them After the kin of a 10monthold girl beat up a resident doctor at Sion Hospital after her death resident doctors of the facility went on a strike on Thursday to be joined by their counterparts in state and BMCrun hospitals the next day causing patients considerable botherationFurthermore as doctors want to continue the strike today the government fears that victims of any mishaps during Ganesh Chaturthi may also have to suffer Patients at KEM Hospital had to wait for medical attention as doctors went on strike on Thursday nightu00a0Siblings Nasteen and Naved suffering from an eye infection were told to seek a discharge from Sion hospital due to the strike Sion hospital had postponed 200 surgeries on WednesdayWe have considered their resident doctors demand for more security and we will review the situation and the security But continuing the strike is only affecting patient careu00a0With the major Ganesh visarjan processions starting tomorrow we will see an increased load of patients in public hospitals and doctors should do their duty for patients sake said Dr Praveen Shingare director of Directorate of Medical Education and ResearchAfter two meetings with the civic and state authorities yesterday the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors MARD decided to carry on the strike on Saturday to protest violence against doctorsResident doctors from all major teaching hospitals in the city JJ St George GT Cama amp Albless Nair and KEM have now joined the strikeu00a0 Dr Pankaj Nalawade president of MARD said The medical strike will continue tomorrow and all medical colleges across the state will also join usPatients sufferPatients at various hospitals had a tough time in finding a doctorTake the case of Nasteen 15 and her brother Naved 21 who were admitted in the Sion hospitals ophthalmology ward for acute infection in their right eyesu00a0The duo had used the same pair of contact lenses and landed up with red swollen eyes but since the last two days not a single doctor has seen themNo doctor has come to see us since morning One came to tell us that we could take a discharge as there were no doctors because of the strike We are leaving as there is no point in waiting in the hospital if there is no doctor to see us said NavedIn fact patients who were wheeled in the emergency unit of the hospital were conveniently asked to look for a bed in a private setupFarooq Mehboob Shaikh had tested positive for dengue and had a low blood platelet countHe had urinary bleeding and we got him to Sion hospital at around 1 pm Doctors took him in but told us that they were on a strike and that it was better if we took the patient to a private hospital said Shaikhs friend Vishwananthu00a0Shaikh did not even get an ambulance to ferry him to the private hospital His relatives had to hire a taxi to a Goregaon hospitalOfficialspeakDr MH Shah deputy dean Nair hospital said All the routine surgeries were postponed Dr Nirmala Barse assistant dean Sion hospital said We could not perform the routine surgeries in the absence of resident doctors We did eight surgeries on an emergency basisDr Sanjay Oak dean of KEM hospital said We performed 50 per cent of the planned surgeries There was a meeting of resident doctors with the municipal commissioner and we had a discussion to call off the strike now its up to them No doubt patients suffered but all our senior doctors are on duty and handling emergency casesDr Shingare said The government hospital doctors initially told us they would go on a token strike and now they have decided to go on an indefinite strike We have to understand the side of the doctors as well as the patients and find the reason of the discord instead of striking workThe triggerIn wee hours of Thursday some 500 resident doctors of the civicrun Sion hospital struck work after one of their resident doctors Vishnu Bhadwad was hit by aggrieved relatives who lost their 10monthold child Sajiya Shaikh owing to alleged delay on the part of the doctors in admitting the child to the hospitalu00a0After that four of the childs kin Kurshid Sheikh 35 Shabnam Sheikh 22 Sadam Siddique 18 and Mehtab Siddique 20 all residents of Dharavi allegedly beat up the doctor They are currently in judicial custody Doctors DemandsFill all posts of security personnel Increase CCTV surveillance on hospital premises More intercom facility Walkytalky to all security personnel