It has been a very eventful week indeed in the medical field for India, with the doctors going on a strike for the whole week with the strike ending only in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Though, I felt that doctors being attacked and not provided subsequent protection was ridiculous, I have collected the whole story below and included my opinion on the whole thing at the end about what the situation is and what needs to be done.
The Cause of the Strike
On Monday, a doctor from sion hospital was beaten by the relatives of a patient whom he couldn’t save. This injured the doctor in question and and blinded him in his left eye. He suffered injuries to all parts of his body and this was the not the first time this happened. This was the third incident in a month in Maharashtra where the patient’s relatives beat up a doctor and injured him for not saving him/her. There have been at least 50 cases of doctors being attacked by patients' family in the last one year. 4,000 doctors went on an immediate strike in Maharashtra in protest and asking for better safety of doctors and reforms against patient visits. AIIMS and Fortis were the only ones functioning fully without any strike, though they condemned the assault and the doctors.
The Strike
The strike went on deaf ears in the first two days as not just politicians but even reporters made stupid statements like “God cures patients and doctor takes fees”. This statement was made by Uday Nirgudkar (No idea who he is) on the ongoing strike. Two days into the strike, on Wednesday, Maharashtra Education Minister Girish Mahajan threatened to deduct six months' salary form all the protesting doctors' pay checks if they did not get back to work by 8 pm that evening. Mahajan, apart from the threat, promised the doctors that 1,100 guards will be placed at government hospitals in a months' time.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) threatened to debar some 1200 protesting doctors if they did not quit the strike and returned to work. Meanwhile, Mumbai mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar promised to get civic hospitals at least 400 armed police personnel from Saturday for security. He said the number will be increased to 700 by April 1. The BMC is also said to have accepted the two-relatives-per-patient term, and promised to install alarm system in hospitals. Municipal Commissioners in Mumbai, on the other hand, have put into place a plan list to ensure protection of the doctors in the state.
Resident doctors from around 40 government hospitals, including Ram Manohar Lohia, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi and around the NCR regiondid not attend work in support for the MARD. Even doctors at AIIMS extended support by wearing helmets at work. On Friday Delhi will witness strike of doctors even from Private hospitals. Sir Ganga Ram hospital on Thursday said, that extending support to the protesting doctors in Maharashtra, their OPD services will not be available on Friday.
MARD doctors want all their demands to be accepted by the government. Meanwhile more than 1200 resident doctors of state and civic run various medical colleges of Mumbai received a notice to resume their duties or else face expulsion. In Nagpur 370 and in Solapur 114 resident doctors were expelled by authorities for going on unapproved leave and carrying out strike. IMA has assured all these resident doctors that they will intervene in this matter. IMA is also keen to have another round of dialogue with the government to resolve the issue of MARD doctors.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis surged the protesting resident doctors to call off their strike on Thursday with a final ultimatum given on Friday night. Mr. Fadnavis promised to ensure their security in hospitals.
The Casualty
BMC counsel Suresh Pakhale informed the court that 135 people have lost their lives in the three civic body-run hospitals (Sion, KEM and Nair) due to the resident doctors' strike since March 20. Nearly 60 percent of patients at Dadadev Mother and Child hospital could not get doctors consultation or treatment due to the protest. However, the emergency cases were somehow treated as resident doctors having duty in emergency department were not part of the protest. Out of the 5,400 OPD cards registered in Delhi government hospitals on Thursday only 25 per cent of patients could consult doctors. Over 800 surgeries across Delhi government and civic body-run hospitals were postponed, and also left thousands of patients in the lurch with OPD functions hit.
The Promises
• 700 security guards to be provided in five days
• Remaining security guards of the total 1,100 would be provided in 10 days
• Directions to provide armed guards and gate pass to relatives in hospital
• No punitive action against doctors if they join immediately
• Security panel with 3 resident members in every hospital
My Opinion
I believe the doctors were right in voicing their opinions by going on a strike. The resultant casualty caused reminded everyone why doctors are important and why they cant be held responsible for the patients addictions. The doctors do the best they can to treat someone and even they feel dejected on not being able to save someone. Imagine working day in and day out dealing with emotions of a patient’s family, considered a god if saved and a cheat if not. It is not easy and is made even more so by eccentric relatives who end up beating and assaulting doctors.
On one hand, the tensions run high in the ICU because of the critical conditions of the patients while on the other, the high cost involved in private hospitals to treat the patient makes the family even more concerned. Losing the person along with the money makes them ridiculously wild. Major blame has to be handed out to the private hospitals for minting money on the expense of a dying patient. Many of the readers would have seen this in a recent movie or worst is to have experienced it in person. The doctor asking the family to put the patient in the ventilator knowing fully well that the patient stands no chance of making it alive seems like playing with the emotions of the family and builds the rage against such hospitals. Not all hospitals are like this of course, and not all doctors do this but if a doctor’s safety is called into question and if it should be made top priority then even fraudulent doctors in fraudulent departments should be suspended and debarred while blacklisting the hospital they work in. Same goes for doctors working under reservation, unqualified and absent minded ones too.
I believe doctors are not just instruments but the major reason for the rebirth of an individual from the jaws of death. Saving yourself from visiting the doctor is the best way to avoid your mortal fate because once you are at the hospital, the chances of your survival depends on the severity of your health and not on the skill of the doctor. More severe you are, more difficult the work is for the doctor to save you. The last 5 days proved why the doctors should be respected no matter which hospital they work for and their situation should be understood instead of branding them as culprits and assaulting them.
P.S All the data mentioned in the post have been collected from many news articles from prominent media.
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