"The hospitals were managed by the teaching staff, residents present on duty from among bonded, unregistered and fellowship candidates. All emergency services were running," said Dr Suhasini Nagda, director, Medical Education, BMC.
Patients were badly hit across the state, as over four thousand doctors shunned work for second day in a row. In civic-run hospitals like KEM, Nair and Sion Hospital, of the total 1972 resident doctors, only 382 doctors were working. They were mostly those who had not registered with Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD). Patients were being turned away from outpatient departments. Not more than forty patients were admitted in each of the three hospitals. Only six deliveries were conducted in all of the three hospitals. Most major surgeries scheduled for Friday, were cancelled, citing shortage of doctors. While KEM conducted 33 major surgeries, Nair Hospital conducted six and Sion Hospital conducted only one surgery.
The medicine ward in KEM hospital usually has up to hundred patients, on Friday, however, there were only fifty patients in the ward. "Usually over ten admissions come to the ward, but due to the strike, barely two or three patients have been admitted," said an MBBS intern from KEM Hospital.
"The hospitals were managed by the teaching staff, residents present on duty from among bonded, unregistered and fellowship candidates. All emergency services were running," said Dr Suhasini Nagda, director, Medical Education, BMC.
Case study 1 -
58-year-old Chandra Rathod was seen bawling with pain in a corner of the KEM Hospital's emergency services department. She was turned away from Tuberculosis Hospital in Sewree and was referred to KEM Hospital on Friday. Doctors at Sewri would not treat Chandra as her sugar levels were shooting up. "She was referred for specialized diabetic care at KEM hospital," said Jyoti, Chandra's grand daughter. In cases of TB-Diabetes condition, unless sugar levels are well under control, the TB drugs do not work on patients. Chandra and Jyoti had come to KEM Hospital at 11 am and were asked to wait by doctors till 7.30 pm. "Due to the doctors' strike, admissions in the hospital wards are being refused. Most patients are in waiting or have been turned away. More so, my grandma is a TB patient. She is suffering from coughing and heartburn. Her legs have swollen up. It is her third relapse of TB infection in the past three years," said Jyoti. "How can a critical TB patient be expected to sit in the casualty waiting room for over eight hours? This is very inhuman."
Case study 2 -
11-year-old Dharmendra Shah was seen wallowing in misery, in the side room of KEM's orthopedic department. On May 26, a shooting pain emerged in Dharmendra's left leg after which in a matter of few hours, his entire leg was swollen. He suffers from osteomyelitis, which is an inflammation of bone due to infection. Sanjay (30), Dharmendra's worried father said, "due to the doctors' strike across Maharashtra, no doctor had come to tend to my boy on Thursday. Earlier on Tuesday, after going hungry from 8 pm the previous night uptil 4 pm the next day, his surgery was cancelled. After the doctors' strike occurred, there was no guarantee on when my son would be operated upon." Dharmendra has missed over two weeks of school owing to his illness. The father-son duo live in Kalyan East. Sanjay, who works in a private firm, earns barely Rs 8,000 a month and has already incurred medical expenditure of Rs 20,000 in the past month. "We hope to go home soon after my son is cured," said Sanjay.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}