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Patients suffer as strike continues at Bihar hospitals

Amid no signs of settlement, the indefinite strike by over 850 junior doctors continued to cripple work at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) and Darbhanga Medical College Hospital (DMCH) in Bihar.

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Amid no signs of settlement, the indefinite strike by over 850 junior doctors continued to cripple work at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) and Darbhanga Medical College Hospital (DMCH) in Bihar for the fourth consecutive day today to press for salary instead of stipend.

Health services in both the premier institutions remained paralysed causing immense hardship to the patients and guardians, official soures. An unconfirmed report said around 12 patients lost their lives at PMCH (08) and DMCH (04) since the last four days when the strike began.

Functioning of emergency and other wards was badly hit because of the stir, sources said, adding the OPD in both the hospitals, functioned as senior doctors manned them. Altogether 100 doctors were deployed from outside to man the functioning of the two major hospitals in Bihar, they said.

Meanwhile, DMCH Superintendent, Dr Suraj Nayak, said the OTs of surgery, orthopaedics, gynaecology and casualty wards of the hospitals were functional.Services of senior doctors and 48 non-clinical doctors are being taken to meet the situation, he said adding that altogether 50 doctors have been requisitioned from the Civil Surgeon, Darbhanga, to let the hospital continue its functioning normally.

PMCH Junior Doctors Association President Rajiv Babu ruled out the possibility of withdrawing the strike unless the state government agreed to their demand of introduction of pay-scale for them instead of stipend. The Association president said the junior doctors at their emergency meeting here yesterday rejected the state government's appeal to call off the strike.

Several wards at the PMCH wore a deserted look despite the state government deploying doctors from private nursing homes and state-run-hospitals to man the emergency wards. Several patients were shifted to nearby nursing homes for treatment.

Against an average daily patient inflow of 400 in the three emegency wards at the PMCH, the figure declined to 95 on saturday, official sources said. Scores of patients at the PMCH had already been shifted to Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH) due to the strike. Some attendants had yesterday created unruly scenes at the NMCH for alleged mismanagement.

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