"The mob arrived in two cars. They came with rods, entered the hospital gates, and started beating us up. The police weren't there to help us," said the junior doctors at Nil Ratan Sarcar (NRS) Hospital.
Protesting against the attack on their colleagues, junior doctors across West Bengal have gone on shutdown on Wednesday. Outdoor facility i.e OPD is closed in almost all the leading government hospitals in the state including in capital Kolkata, This has lead to massive problems for patients, some of who have come from far away seeking treatments. They are now having to go from one hospital to another looking for treatment options, but except the emergency wards, nothing else is functioning almost anywhere.
Also Read: What happened at NRS hospital
From 9 AM to 9 PM on Wednesday, doctors across the state have decided not to work in outdoor demanding better safety to shield themselves from rage of the patient party.
This has lead to flaring up of temper in several places and clashes have been reported. In Burdwan medical college, patients families beat up doctors with hockey sticks and also threw stones at them leading to some doctors getting injured. Four doctors have suffered injury, out of which one intern Mayank Agarwal has received severe injury on his forehead, confirmed deputy super of Burdwan Medical college. After that, the emergency ward also was closed for the public.
Almost the same situation is prevailing across the state. The doctors are maintaining complete shutdown and patients are in deep trouble. In many places the patient party is losing cool and is resorting to violence against the protesting doctors.
After not getting any treatment in Kolkata's prestigious SSKM hospital, families of many patients did a road blockade demanding intervention to sort out the issue.
Situation at epicentre NRS hospital
"The doctors have not attended on me. I am suffering some stomach ailment. I was not aware that the doctors are on strike. I came to know while I was on my way to the hospital. I am here since yesterday. I am waiting for the strike to get over," Boiragi told ANI about condition in NRS hospital.
A patient's attendant said many of those who have come to the hospital are in a serious condition. The junior doctors locked the hospital gates, stopped work at the outpatient department (OPD) and started a dharna in protest against the attack. However, patients later forced open the gates to enter the hospital.
Lack of awareness from the police lead to two junior doctors getting assaulted in NRS hospital in Kolkata, according to their colleagues. Speaking to media outlets, the doctors said that the attackers came armed with rods. They came in cars wearing helmets and attacked the doctors. According to them, had police been proactive in stopping them from entering the NRS hospital area this incident could have been averted.
They believe that not enough police personnel were stationed on Monday when two interns, Paribaha Mukhopadhyay and Yash Tekwani, were brutally assaulted following ruckus due to the death of a patient.
The doctors claimed that they were harassed earlier inside the wards for their alleged 'negligence'
With agency inputs
1. What happened in NRS Hospital
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A clash erupted between junior doctors and the relatives of a patient at the state-run Nil Ratan Sircar (NRS) Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata late Monday night after a 75-year-old, Mohammed Shahid, died due to alleged negligence, the police said on Tuesday.
Family members of Mohammed Shahid, a resident of Tangra, allegedly assaulted some junior doctors at around 11 pm last night after he died. As a result, a clash broke out, virtually turning the hospital premises into a battleground, the police said.
An intern was injured in the clash and regular services at Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital were disrupted as the junior doctors began a sit-in, demanding better security, the police said, adding that Shahid's family members were also angry over a delay in handing over his body.
2. Assaulting Junior Doctors
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In that process, Paribaha Mukhopadhyay, junior doctor, was badly hurt, including enduring an injury in the skull. He was rushed to the Institute of Neurosciences (INS) in Mullickbazar where a CT scan revealed that he suffered a depression fracture in the right frontal lobe of the skull.
He underwent a surgery in the afternoon.
A large team of police personnel from Entally police station intervened and resorted to lathicharge to bring the situation under control, a senior Kolkata Police officer said.
More than 50 doctors shut the gates of the medical institution and began a sit-in on Monday night, demanding "protection", the police said.
West Bengal Medical Education Department director, Dr Pradip Kumar Mitra, visited the hospital and tried to persuade the doctors to withdraw their protest, but in vain.
3. Escalating Tensions
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Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya, who also visited the hospital, was met with resistance from the protesters. The protesters raised slogans and demanded better security for themselves.
"We are talking to them. We will appreciate if they withdraw their agitation and resume normal work as patients are suffering," the minister said.
The agitation also spread to other medical colleges and hospitals in the city, with junior doctors staging sit-ins in support of their colleagues at the NRS Hospital.
Doctors association from across the state in solidarity with the junior doctors have called for stopping work in OPDs across the state in both private and government hospitals from 9 am to 9 pm on Wednesday. Emergency wards will be operational.
Paribaha Mukhopadhyay is currently recuperating. He is conscious and is said to be out of danger. CT scan has shown depressed fracture in the right frontal region with contusion. Repeat scan has shown no deterioration in condition and his USG report is normal.
4. Uniting for doctors all across
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The other doctor who was hospitalised, Yash Tekwani is from Raipur in Chattisgarh.
He too was assaulted by the mob who came in with rods wearing helmets and brutally started to beat up the doctors. Yash is in a comparatively less critical state than Dr Paribaha, but is still admitted in the critical care unit of NRS Medical College and Hospital where he is being treated for his head injuries.
Yash is an almnus of the prestigious Rajkumar College in Raipur.
