Mumbai: Doctors and medical students protest against the alleged rape and murder of a junior doctor at a hospital in Kolkata, at Sir JJ Hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday, August 14, 2024. (Photo: PTI)
Outpatient department (OPD) services and walk-in consultations have been affected at hospitals in New Delhi after the Resident Doctors Associations (RDAs) in the capital continued their strike for the third consecutive day on Wednesday.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi on Wednesday recorded a 55 per cent drop in OPD services compared to routine days, while operation theatre services fell by a whopping 85 per cent.
There has been a 20% and 40% decline in laboratory tests and radiological procedures such as X-rays and CT scans respectively. AIIMS usually receives 10,000 patients a day.
A similar scene was witnessed at Safdarjung Hospital and Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital, where OPD registration was affected due to strikes over the past two days.
This comes as resident doctors at all major government hospitals in the capital, including AIIMS, Safdarjung and Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital, continued to stop all non-urgent elective services on Wednesday, despite warnings from the administration against staging protests on hospital premises.
The decision to continue the strike comes even after the Federation of All India Resident Doctors Associations (FORDA), which had initially called for a nationwide strike, called it off after meeting Union Health Minister JP Nadda on Tuesday.
In its statement after calling the strike, the association said a key outcome of the meeting was the health minister’s agreement to form a committee with FORDA’s participation to work on the Central Protection Act for health workers.
“The Ministry has assured that the works will begin in the next 15 days,” said FORDA. The association added that the decision to end the strike, which came into effect on Wednesday morning, was taken for the benefit of the well-being of the patients.
However, individual RDAs, along with the Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA), decided to continue the strike until their demand for a written guarantee from the government to adopt a Central Health Care Protection Act is met.
An official announcement from the Health Ministry for the formation of the committee is expected soon, a person familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
“The committee will focus on the timely implementation of the law, aimed at ensuring a safer working environment for healthcare workers. Meetings for this initiative are scheduled to begin within the next two weeks, and FORDA will form a delegation to participate,” FORDA stated.
Protests erupted across the country following the murder of a 31-year-old resident doctor in Kolkata, whose brutalized body was discovered last Friday in the seminar hall of the RG Kar Medical College. She had gone to rest after a 36-hour shift but was found murdered in the morning.
The victim had multiple injuries, including a fractured neck. An autopsy later confirmed that she had been sexually assaulted and murdered. Kolkata police have arrested Sanjay Roy, a volunteer at the hospital, in connection with the crime.
The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed the Kolkata Police to hand over all case files of the gruesome rape and murder to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
First published: August 14, 2024 | 19:51 IS
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