With over 20,000 doctors going on mass leave across 40 government hospitals in the Capital, it was a bad day to receive medical assistance
With over 20,000 doctors going on mass leave across 40 government hospitals in the Capital, it was a bad day to receive medical assistance. DNA's Sakshi Chand and Astha Saxena highlight the plight of patients who had come from different parts of the country to get themselves treated, only to be welcomed by confusion, disregard, and dismay
Lok Nayak Hospital
Brain tumour patient Irshad lies outside Lok Nayak Hospital, hoping that he will be attended to by a doctor soon
Angrez Ali, Labourer, Panipat
Angrez Ali is restless. His 32-year-old brother Irshad has been diagnosed with brain tumour just two days ago. Doctors in Panipat advised them to head to Delhi to get him treated at the earliest. The family started their journey at 6 am to be one of the first to stand in the queue outside the Out Patient Department (OPD), but all their hopes went down the drain. Now, Irshad is lying on just a bedsheet with his family members seated next to him, hoping to have a doctor come and treat him.
Fearing that Irshad might try to bring harm to himself, Angrez and his family members haven't yet told him the nature of his disease or why they have brought him to the hospital. "We are labourers and for us every penny counts. Since my brother is ailing, we had to book a taxi from Panipat to Delhi for Rs 3,500. Irshad, however, is lying outside the hospital, with no doctor attending him," said Angrez. He added that Lok Nayak Hospital wasn't the first one they had approached. "Doctors in Panipat referred us to GB Pant Hospital, where we were shooed away like dogs. They just gave him two injections and refused to admit him. Here, we are being told that there is an ongoing strike; but a doctor should at least see him. What if he dies?" said Angrez.
Lady Hardinge Medical College
Sandeep and Babita Parcha waiting at the OPD at LHMC. Babita, who is eight months pregnant, was refused treatment
Sandeep Parcha, Taxi Driver, Ajeet Nagar, Seelampur
Seated in a corner at the OPD waiting hall, Sandeep and Babita Parcha have been waiting throughout the day to be attended to. "My wife is eight months pregnant and we have travelled for more than two hours to reach here," said Sanjay. "The road was very bad and my husband had to drive very carefully. My stomach is hurting and I am carrying twins," said Babita.
Angry with the doctors, Sandeep calls their attitude "callous". "If the doctors are on mass leave then alternate arrangements should have been made. For instance, if a senior doctor cannot attend the patients, then a junior doctor or a consultant should guide us on the course of treatment. They said they intimated everyone through newspapers, but, what if someone doesn't get a newspaper at home," he said. He also asked who should be held responsible if anything happens to his wife.
The couple have been coming to LHMC for treatment since Babita was four months pregnant. However, when a doctor refused to treat her this time, the couple took their documents, and quietly walked away.
All India Institute of Medical Sciences
Brahm Singh, who is suffering from renal failure, arrived at AIIMS, only to learn that the doctors were going on mass leave
Brahm Singh, Sexagenarian, Uttarakhand
Brahm Singh suffers from renal failure and is in desperate need of a doctor. The family had travelled from Uttarakhand and put up at the railway station. They were expecting that he will receive treatment in the morning at AIIMS. But, this did not happen; their expectations weren't even remotely meted. Upon arriving at the hospital, they learnt that the doctors were going on mass leave.
Resident doctors at AIIMS agreed to see the patients and worked with their helmets on as a mark of protest and in solidarity with their fellow doctors across the country.
"It is our moral responsibility as medical professionals to treat patients who come to us from various parts of the country. However, it is also true that we will not be able to work in such an unsafe environment. While we know that not everyone is an attacker but handful of antisocial elements are enough to destroy the healthy and faithful relationship a patient and his or her doctor shares," said one of the doctors treating the patient.
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