Medical body announces 2-day strike, hospital services hit

Patients seeking treatment at Civil Hospital in Sector 10A said they had to wait for hours outside the hospital’s outpatient department (OPD), where trainee doctors and post-graduate medical students were conducting the checkups instead of full-time doctors.

The Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMSA) had announced a two-day statewide strike from Monday against the direct recruitment of senior medical officers (SMOs) in the state. The strike led to chaos across government hospitals and medical facilities in the district, including OPDs, emergency care and operations.

Patients waiting for doctors outside the OPD during strike. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

Patients seeking treatment at Civil Hospital in Sector 10A said they had to wait for hours outside the hospital’s outpatient department (OPD), where trainee doctors and post-graduate medical students were conducting the checkups instead of full-time doctors.

“Doctor’s absence at the Flu and Skin OPDs forced us to wait for long hours. Patients needed prescriptions for diagnosis and medicine, however, everything was delayed because the attendants didn’t come on their designated time,” said Manish Yadav, a patient at the hospital and a resident of Sector 7.

A doctor, who wished not to be named, said the strike had put an excessive burden on them. “Some doctors who are working have been directed to continue their services in double shifts,” the doctor said.

Doctors said the direct recruitment of SMOs would risk their career security by limiting the chances of promotions of the existing cadre of doctors. Some doctors at sub-division hospitals in Sohna and Pataudi demand uniformity in promotions by providing equal chances to all medical officers, irrespective of their speciality. “Despite repeated assurances from the government, no routine promotions or a revision in pay scale have been ordered,” said a medical officer in Sohna, who participated in the strike.

Dr Lokveer Singh, primary medical officer (PMO) at the Civil Hospital said they have roped in trainee doctors and post-graduate students to temporarily replace the protesting ones.“Around 70-80 government doctors out of 104 in the hospital have participated in the strike. We had put contingency arrangements in place by deploying doctors registered with the Aayush department and under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to fill the void,” he said.

However, doctors who went on strike claimed that the district Health Department has been putting pressure on newly inducted medical officers to return to service. “The health department is threatening professionals on probation or those with a due promotion of adverse consequences if they continue with the strike,” a senior doctor with over 15 years of service in district, said.

Dr Rajesh Khyalia, senior medical officer and state president of HCMSA, said, “A revised assured career progression (ACP) structure, which was approved in 2024, needs to be formally introduced, providing fair chances of being promoted to medical officers. 90% of our cadres will be affected if direct recruitment is offered to specialty doctors.”

As per estimates by the health department, around 122 doctors out of the overall 204 enrolled in government services, are actively participating in the two-day strike. “Around 120 from HCMSA have applied for casual leave requests,” said a doctor representing the Gurugram zone of the medical services association.

A senior official at the district health department said that efforts are underway to end the deadlock by back-channel discussions. “We are in touch with doctors who have called the strike. Directions have been issued to gynecologists and doctors of other specialties to provide uninterrupted services at the labour room and emergency wards. Half of the medical officers are expected to return to service on Tuesday,” Singh added.