Health services disrupted due to doctor’s agitation

Kolkata, DHNS: Services at several state run medical colleges in West Bengal came to a grinding halt on Tuesday after the junior doctors of NRS Medical College in Kolkata refused to work after one of them was allegedly assaulted by the relatives of a patient late on Monday night.

The injured junior doctor suffered a skull fracture during the assault. His condition is stable following a surgery. The incident took place after a patient died at the hospital. Five people have been arrested in relation to the case so far.

Within hours after the junior doctors of NRS Medical College started to stop their work demanding complete protection the agitation soon spilled over to several other medical colleges in the city and the district. This has caused severe inconvenience to patients throughout the day.

The ordeal of the patients is unlikely to end anytime soon.

While the cease of work by the junior doctors at the NRC Medical College and other medical colleges in the city was not lifted till late on Tuesday night, one of the largest organisation of doctors in the state, Doctors’ Forum, has given a call to cease work at all outdoor departments of government and private hospitals in the state for 12 hours on Wednesday.

However, they said that they will try to ensure that services at the emergency wards remain unaffected.

Earlier in the day, Chandrima Bhattacharya, West Bengal’s Minister of State (Health) visited the NRS Hospital but was unable to convince the agitating doctors to resume work.