According to onlookers, while some of the doctors from the Thane Civil Hospital had joined the protest with other private doctors, to be in solidarity with the doctors in West Bengal
When a commuter fell unconscious at the Thane railway platform on Monday morning, he was immediately taken to the nearby civil hospital by the Railway Police. According to onlookers, while some of the doctors from the Thane Civil Hospital had joined the protest with other private doctors, to be in solidarity with the doctors in West Bengal, the patient was left unattended for a few minutes.
While public hospital doctors were supporting the nationwide strike by wearing black ribbons and attending to out-patient departments (OPD) only, OPDs in private hospitals remained shut. Public hospitals witnessed a huge crowd in their OPDs because of the protest in public hospitals.
Some of the city's public hospitals extended the working hours of their OPDs because of an increase in the number of patients. However, in private hospitals, only casualties and emergency cases were attended to by the doctors.
Dr Madhukar Gaikwad, medical superintendent of state-run St George's Hospital, said, "The working hours for OPDs and various testing departments were stretched by an hour because of the increase in the number of cases. The OPDs were burdened today."
Dr Hemant Deshmukh, dean of the KEM Hospital, said, "There was a 20 percent increase in the number of OPD cases today."
The management of private hospitals said they are in solidarity with their medical staff. Fortis Healthcare issued a statement that reads, "Citizens deserve our care, we deserve their respect. Fortis is concerned about the repeated acts of violence against doctors and other caregivers, most recently at Kolkata's NRS Medical College & Hospital. Fortis supports the cause of the doctor community and the protest declared by IMA on Monday. To express our concerns all OPDs and non-essential services remained closed on Monday. Emergency services & in-patient care went on uninterrupted to ensure patients are not inconvenienced."
Following the horrific violence against doctors and the lack of response from the state government in West Bengal, nearly 15,000 medical establishments in the city demand a Central Act and proper working conditions to prevent such instances. The Association of Medical Consultants, Mumbai, (AMC) along with the Indian Medical Association (IMA), protested against the violent attacks on doctors and kept their clinics shut for 24 hours on Monday.
Balancing Work
- Public hosp docs wore black ribbons and only attended to out-patient department cases
- However, OPDs in private hospitals remained shut
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