Expressing solidarity with the medical students protesting against the proposed MBBS structure extending the duration of the course, senior resident doctors and medical students of top hospitals in Delhi, including AIIMS, RMl and Safdarjung Hospital, went on strike leading to closure of their Out Patient Departments (OPDs).
The hospitals, which are expected to keep their OPDs shut with only emergency services available, include several Delhi Government hospitals besides the Central Government-run facilities. Doctors from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Ram Manohar lohia Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, lady Hardinge Medical College and Deen Dayal Upadhayay have joined the MBBS students and are expected to go on an indefinite strike if their demand to review the “prolonged” course structure of MBBS was not met. This step by doctors is likely to cause distress for the patients.
On an average, the OPD of RMl hospital caters to 3,500 patients per day while at AIIMS the number is much higher as it crosses over 10,000 per day. Admitting to the strike, Dr HK Kar, Medical Superintendent of the hospital said, “Our resident doctors from the OPD went at noon to show solidarity with the medical students but our emergency services are and will remain functional.”
The campus of the hospital was flooded with unattended patients who kept waiting anxiously with their ailing relatives. Several patients kept sitting on the benches and pavements outside the department.