Patients were left inconvenienced as all medical services, except those of emergency, remained suspended following a strike called by the members of Haryana Civil Medical Services (HCMS) Association at the civil hospital in Sector 6 here on Thursday.
The strike comes after a meeting of the association on Sunday, wherein the members had called for closure of all OPDs across the state. According to doctors associated with the association, patients only in the emergency ward were treated and postmortem services provided in public interest.
The association, which has a representation of around 2,500 doctors in the state, has been demanding additional increments to specialist doctors and assured career progression (ACP) on a par with other states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi, according to its members.
Stranded
Patients who had come to the hospital from nearby rural areas faced inconvenience. Apart from the hospital, OPDs at all the dispensaries were also closed. Around 3,500 patients from the district and nearby areas on an average come for checkup at different OPDs in the civil hospital. The strike caused harassment to the patients who ended up waiting for hours and returned disappointed.
“A large number of patients are visiting the hospital nowadays, especially those with fever-like symptoms. I had also come to medicine OPD for consultation after taking a short break from the office, but had to return without getting any,” said Ashish Kansal, a resident of Sector 4.
{{/usCountry}}“A large number of patients are visiting the hospital nowadays, especially those with fever-like symptoms. I had also come to medicine OPD for consultation after taking a short break from the office, but had to return without getting any,” said Ashish Kansal, a resident of Sector 4.
{{/usCountry}}Another resident, Shivani Kakkar, said, “I had come here from Barwala only to consult a doctor on someone’s recommendation, but had to return due to doctors’ strike. It is a complete failure on the part of the government as patients are the ones who suffer.”
Tussle with government
The association on Sunday had written a letter to health department additional chief secretary of the Haryana government regarding their decision. “The state government had agreed to the demands in a meeting chaired by the chief minister in July. However, no progress has been made yet, which is why we decided to strike,” said Dr Rajesh Sheokand, general secretary of the association.
He said that two-hour pen down strike on August 30 was held throughout the state but still there is no progress.
The association has also decided to hold a complete shutdown of the OPD and postmortem services except emergency from September 9 if their demands are not met.