Around 3,000 resident doctors across 17 government hospitals in Maharashtra continued their strike for the second day on Tuesday to protest against the frequent attacks on doctors by aggrieved relatives of patients.
The strike was launched after a resident doctor in civic-run Sion hospital in Mumbai was beaten up by the relatives of a patient in the ward on March 19. The attack took place after his patient, who was suffering from chronic kidney disease, died. Resident doctors said this was the third attack against them after an orthopaedic doctor of Dhule Civil hospital was brutally beaten up by around 30 people including patients and relatives in the ward. The victim, Dr Rohan Mamorkar, lost his vision in one eye and also suffered other injuries.
On Monday, around 4,000 resident doctors skipped duty. However, both these days, emergency services were not affected in the government-run hospitals. In Mumbai, resident doctors from KEM, Sion, Nair and JJ hospitals skipped work on Tuesday.
Speaking to THE WEEK, Dr Avinash Supe, dean of KEM hospital said, “We posted senior doctors in the emergency department and also managed to conduct 48 major operations till 3 pm. In total, we managed to complete around 90 surgeries. However, normally we conduct 200 surgeries a day.”
At Nair hospital, only two emergency surgeries were conducted on Tuesday, said Dr Sarika, an assistant medical officer from the hospital. Despite attempts to contact Dr Suleman Merchant, dean of Sion hospital, he remained unavailable for comment.
Residents doctors from civic-run Cooper hospital observed a one-day mass leave on Monday to protest against the attacks. “We agreed to end the strike after our authorities assured us that they would meet our demands regarding better security in the hospital for resident doctors. We took care of patients in the wards in the morning itself and there were enough doctors to run emergency services. So, except patients who came to the Out Patient Department (OPD), not much discomfort was caused,” said Dr Ojasvi Batra, president, Cooper Association of Resident Doctors.
However, resident doctors from other hospitals across Maharashtra have decided to continue their strike despite the fact that the Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed hospital managements to take disciplinary action against them. The high court direction came on a PIL filed by social activist Afaq Madaviya.
“We had meetings with the BMC authorities and officials from the Directorate of Medical Education & Research. However, we are not satisfied with the outcome of the meetings and want better assurance that there will be increased security for resident doctors in Maharashtra,” said Dr Swapnil Meshram, a resident doctor from JJ hospital.
“A few resident doctors have decided to resume work, but the rest of us across Maharashtra will continue with the strike on Wednesday,” added Dr Meshram.
