JOIN USDoc strike cripples Lok Nayak Hospital
Services at Lok Nayak Hospital (LNJP) were hit on Friday leaving a number of patients stranded without essential care after junior doctors went on strike in the wake of attacks from a patient’s family.
Outpatient departments, medical counters and some operation theatres did not function for the whole day. Patients who had come after waiting for days for their turn faced problems. The emergency ward also sent most of the patients back due to lack of doctors.
The strike, however, was called off in the evening. “My brother fell from the roof of his office and is in a critical condition. But due the chaos here, I am taking him to Safdarjung Hospital now,” said an aggrieved Sunil.
The situation was grim even though senior doctors were working for the whole day. “Our performance gets affected because of the lack of support staff of junior doctors,” said a faculty member who had to postpone an operation.
The senior and junior residents went on strike after a patient’s relatives attacked the residents present in emergency ward. A young girl was brought to LNJP’s emergency at 11 pm with an intestinal disorder for which she had to be immediately operated. But she collapsed before the operation. Angry relatives blamed doctors for her death and attacked four of them present in the ward.
“They destroyed a lot of property in the emergency too. Some patients were also affected. One patient was hit on the head,” said Dr Anurag Mishra, president of resident doctors association, LNJP. He said the strike was withdrawn because the administration accepted demand related to security of the residents.
“There are provisions in place, but they are loosely imposed. We asked for strict implementation of ‘one attendant with one patient’ rule and it was accepted. The security has also been increased,” said Dr Mishra.
The episode was reminiscent of the strike of residents of Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital (DDUH) early this month when two rival groups entered the hospital and beat up the doctors on duty forcing them not to give medico-legal certificate to the other group. DDUH now boasts of being the first Delhi Government hospital to have bouncers on its campus for security.