Resident doctors in Delhi go on strike, 800 surgeries postponed

Resident doctors on their mass Casual Leave protest against growing incidents of attacks by patients relatives File PicPradeep DhivarNew Delhi Over 20000 resident doctors in the national capital on Thursday went on mass casual leave in solidarity with their Maharashtra counterparts leading to postponement of over 800 surgeries across Delhi government and civic bodyrun hospitals and also left thousands of patients in the lurch with OPD functions hitResident doctors in Delhi went on mass casual leave in solidarity with a similar move by their Maharashtra counterparts over rising cases of assault on doctors by patients kinAccording to hospital staff due to resident doctors remaining absent from their duties the OPD registration counters were shut in several government hospitals after 10 am instead of the usual time 1 pm compelling patients to returnAt Lady Hardinge Medical College LHMC the OPD card counters were shut immediately after the resident doctors went off their duties as part of mass casual leave Many patients had no idea initially and kept standing in the queue said Sanjana Rawat a nurse at LHMCThere are 38 hospitals under the Delhi government Resident doctors in hospitals under the central government except the All India Institute of Medical Sciences were also part of the protestDelhi government hospitals every day witness nearly 1600 prescheduled surgeries and over 200 emergency onesPatients in several other government hospitals such as Lal Bahadur Sastri Hospital Dadadev Mother and Child Hospital and GB Pant were affected as only the emergency departments were functional and even the normal medicine OPD remained partially operationalNearly 60 per cent of patients at Dadadev Mother and Child hospital could not get doctors consultation or treatment due to the protest However the emergency cases were somehow treated as resident doctors having duty in emergency department were not part of the protest said Nirupam Ghosh associated with the administration wing of Dadadev Mother and Child hospitalFederation of Resident Doctors Association FORDA under whose banner the protest was being held in Delhi said of the 5400 OPD cards registered in Delhi government hospitals on Thursday only 25 per cent of patients could consult doctorsThe resident doctors have also threatened to go on a pan India strike soon if the government fails to ensure them a safe atmosphere to perform their dutiesThis mass casual leave was just an indication of what we can do to ensure our safety If the health ministry does not take necessary steps to stop assault on doctors we will go on pan India strike said Pankaj Solanki President FORDA told IANSSeveral private hospitals also came out in support of the protest by resident doctorsSir Ganga Ram Hospital Chairman DS Rana said that in solidarity with the concerns of safety of doctors the general and private OPDs of the hospital will not function on Friday The inpatient as well as emergency services will function normallyCitybased Fortis condemned the rising cases of assault on doctors but added the hospital will continue to function normallyA safe and secure work environment is the basic requirement for care givers to provide best possible medical care to patients We at Fortis Healthcare are firmly committed to our patients and our medical services remain unhampered as our doctors continue to serve the community as always a statement saidAs part of the protest resident doctors have also decided to sport black arm bands on March 24 during work