Delhi: Doctors at many hospitals protest on Saturday

Scores of doctors from several government hospitals here, who could not join a nationwide stir on June 14, Saturday protested in solidarity with their striking colleagues in Kolkata.

Doctors at the Centre-run Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital and RML Hospital, and Delhi government facilities such as Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital and DDU Hospital, boycotted work and held protests.

On Friday, a majority of hospitals in Delhi had joined the country-wide agitation in support of the doctors in West Bengal, on a call given by the India Medical Association (IMA) and various resident doctors' associations (RDAs).

However, many hospitals could not join the protest on June 14 as they had not submitted the 24-hour advance notice to the government as required by the protocol. So, they are observing a bandh on Saturday, President of Federation of Residents Doctors' Association (FORDA) Sumedh Sandanshiv said.

However, ICUs and emergency wings of these hospitals are functioning, he said.

There was a shutdown of out patient departments (OPDs), routine operation theatre services and ward visits, except emergency services at these hospitals of the city, where doctors held their token strike on Saturday.

Junior doctors in West Bengal are on a strike since Tuesday after two of their colleagues were attacked and seriously injured allegedly by relatives of a patient who died at NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

Scores of doctors in Delhi on Friday had held demonstrations, with many seeing patients in emergency wards wearing bandages on forehead or helmets, marching and raising slogans to express solidarity.

On Saturday, doctors at several hospitals wore helmets or bandages over forehead while seeing patients. Even though regular services have resumed at AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital and various Delhi government-run facilities, many doctors continued to do work wearing bandages.

Condemning any form of violence, especially against medical professionals in the country, the IMA launched a four-day nationwide protest from Friday and called for a strike on June 17 with the withdrawal of non-essential health services.

The apex medical body also wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah over their demands regarding the safety of doctors in hospitals. Vardhan on Friday supported the medical fraternity's demand for a central law to check violence against healthcare workers in hospitals and said such crimes should be made non-bailable.