New Delhi, Jul 15 (PTI) Patients faced difficulties at the GTB Hospital on Monday due to resident doctors going on an indefinite strike following the killing of a patient inside a ward, affecting medical services at the OPD, lab, and other departments.
“In the hospital’s emergency operation theatre, normally nine to ten surgeries are performed in a day, but on Monday, due to the strike, only one surgery could be performed,” according to hospital sources.
Resident doctors of the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital went on an indefinite strike on Monday after a patient was shot dead while a doctor was treating him.
“The strike started at 9 am, affecting routine patient care in all non-emergency patient care areas,” according to members of the doctors’ association.
Patients who came for treatment are now facing uncertainty and long waits due to the strike.
Shudarshan Prashad, who came for his son’s treatment, said the hospital has stopped admitting new patients since morning.
“We can only hope for the strike to end soon because there are people here who cannot afford to go to expensive private hospitals, and this can potentially cause serious issues for some patients.” Prashad said.
Another patient Anirudh, who came to get treated as he had been suffering from fever for a long time, said the hospital is only treating the emergency patients, and all other non-emergency units are not operational due to the doctors’ strike.
“We are here for our treatment, but it won’t be provided to us until the administration fulfils the doctors’ demands. I don’t know when the administration will decide whether to accept their demands or not; it’s just wasting our time, compromising the lives of ordinary people everywhere now,” Anirudh said.
Many patients were upset about the ongoing situation and said that incidents like this in hospital premises are shocking and not safe for anyone.
Meanwhile, other doctors’ bodies also extended their support to the strike.
On Sunday, a 32-year-old man was shot dead by a teenager inside a ward of the GTB Hospital in front of doctors and his relatives. The victim, Riyazuddin, was admitted to the hospital on June 23 and was undergoing treatment for an abdominal infection.
After the incident, the Delhi government decided to deploy two armed guards and metal detectors at emergency entries of hospitals, Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said on Monday after meeting with members of a doctors’ body.
“Met Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) delegation led by the National Chairman, accompanied by National General Secretary, Chief Advisor to discuss the recent incidents of violence in government hospitals. Following decisions have been taken: 1) Installation of metal detectors at the emergency entries of hospitals. 2) Deployment of two armed guards at the emergency entries of major hospitals,” Bharadwaj said in a post on X.
The Delhi Police arrested two people on Monday in connection with the case. PTI NSM NSM MNK MNK
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