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Patients bear brunt as doctors’ strike enters fifth day at PGIMER, Chandigarh
Patients arriving at region’s premier tertiary care health institution go unattended as OPD services hit on fifth day of strike for justice, new safety law.
Amid the nationwide protests condemning the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, medical professionals at PGIMER, Chandigarh, continued their indefinite protest on Friday. The doctors have stated that the protest will continue till justice is delivered.
Patients, who have been coming to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, said they have been facing a lot of trouble because of the protest since the past five days and urged the government to fulfil the demands of the doctors.
“We are facing a lot of problems due to the absence of OPD. We have come from a long distance,” said Nitin, a patient.
“If the OPD is closed, we should have been informed first. Now we have come. Our checkup was done on the old card but the card for meeting the new doctor is not being made, so we will have to come again,” said another patient Pushpa.
“We have been roaming around here since Thursday night but no one is listening to us nor are the doctors attending to us. The government must listen to the doctors so that the strike gets over,” said Gurpreet, a patient.
Meanwhile, doctors have said that the safety of the doctors is crucial. “This is the fifth day of our protest. We want justice. We are requesting the government to bring a new safety law for health professionals,” said Dr Praneet Reddy.
“If a doctor is not safe even in hospital, then where will he/she be safe?” another protester, Dr Prerna, said.
