Safdarjung docs go on mass leave
Medical services at Safdarjung Hospital were affected yet again as resident doctors went on mass leave on Tuesday evening. They said their demands had not been met. Sidhartha Dutta reports.
Medical services at Safdarjung Hospital were affected yet again as resident doctors went on mass leave on Tuesday evening. They said their demands had not been met.
The doctors were scheduled to meet Director General Health Services, government of India, Dr Jagdish Prasad on Tuesday. However, the meeting had to be cancelled as he was not in the capital.
“We were supposed to meet the DGHS today but we were told he would not be available. We’ve got verbal assurance from the DGHS but no commitment has been made yet. The state of security and drinking water in the hospital is still the same. They were supposed to give us an assurance by Tuesday but it didn’t happen, so we are again going on mass leave,” said Dr Sameer Prabhakar, spokesperson of the resident doctors association at the hospital said.
“The senior consultants are running the departments but the resident doctors are not working,” he added.
“They are calling it mass leave, which amounts to strike. We had three rounds of meetings with the health ministry and we agreed to all their short-term demands. The long-term demands like accommodation for the residents will take some time. It cannot happen overnight. Due to the strike, the patients are suffering. Patients come from far-flung areas and they bear the brunt. Such disturbances are unwarranted,” said Dr B D Athani, medical superintendent, Safdarjung. “The DGHS had sent an official intimation that he would meet the doctors on Wednesday,” he added.