After a 20-day strike in protest with resident doctors, patients have started pouring into state-run Kolkata hospitals, but services have not resumed. Despite appeals by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Supreme Court, the doctors continued to strike and senior doctors filled in for junior doctors.
At RG Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH), patients thronged the OPD ticket counter on Wednesday morning, creating a stark contrast to the previous week when a female doctor was raped and killed, and mob violence erupted at the hospital in the middle of the night. August 15, has collectively led to a reduction in patient burden.
Crowds gathered outside the OPD, with patients waiting to buy tickets or waiting for their turn to consult with senior doctors, who continued to report for duty amid strike protests by junior doctors.
A patient of the hospital’s OPD said he was waiting for a little commotion before seeing a doctor. He said, “I have a nervous problem. I’m a poor man, I work in a factory, I can get free medicine here. I’m running out of medicine, but I’m afraid to come to the hospital after seeing all the violence on the news channels. I can’t sleep for many days without medicines.He waited at the ticket counter from 8 am and remained determined to see the doctor at any cost and get essential medicines.
“I always come to RG Kar for treatment. I didn’t come for two weeks because I saw on the news that the situation was in turmoil. My daughter is pregnant, so I brought her here today to be checked,” said Supriya as she waited outside the OPD ward on Wednesday.
A resident of nearby Dum Dum, he added that he had no problem getting an OPD ticket in the morning. “We didn’t have to wait long until my daughter was assigned to a doctor for consultation. The treatment she received here was good, and there were no problems,” he said.
Beena Mondal and her pregnant daughter, who live in Belgachhia, were also among the patients who came for consultation at the hospital’s OPD on Wednesday. “My daughter had a follow-up appointment last week, but the situation seemed more tense, so we didn’t come. Today, I leave it to God to take care of us,” he said. “We are poor people. We can’t go to a private hospital or a nursing home old man. How long can we not come here?”
Mohammad Irshad Mansuri, who broke his arm about a month ago, also noticed that the flow of patients in the hospital has increased this week. “I came here last week but struggled to reach it, because of the protests in this area. Today, I am here for follow-up and the situation is better, and I see more patients here,” he said.
A similar scene was witnessed at the Medical College, Kolkata (MCK) where protests also erupted among junior doctors following the rape and murder at RGKMCH. “I know the junior doctors are on strike, but my son is receiving good care from the senior doctors here,” said the patient’s mother on condition of anonymity.
Her daughter was admitted to the gynecology and obstetrics ward at MCK for delivery. “Nothing has stopped in terms of treatment. He is doing well here,” he said.
Protests continue; an impossible request
Speaking about the doctors’ protest, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed to the resident doctors on Wednesday to return to duty. Ms. Banerjee also said: “Many poor people die because of lack of treatment. People who have money, crorepati, can go to private hospitals. But poor people cannot afford this. Where will they go? I ask you, when pregnant women are pregnant, the doctor has to deliver, can she wait?”
The protesting resident doctors refused to refuse because there was no major demand for the protest. A protesting doctor at the Medical College, Kolkata said: “We are doctors, we are here to serve people, we want to go back to work… because it is our job as medical professionals. But tell us, with the hope that we will go back work? No demands have been made, co-workers who were raped and killed have not received justice.
Senior doctors shoulder the burden
Professor Pranab Kumar Biswas, senior physician and Head of Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Medical College, Kolkata told the Hindus: “The patient is improving slowly. In the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, we received more than 200 patients on August 29. The number dropped to 100-150 a week earlier. Our numbers are usually between 250-300 for the OPD on a normal day.
He also pointed out that working without resident doctors and colleagues is still difficult due to the increasing patient load, especially in his department where expectant mothers cannot wait to give birth, it is always an emergency in such cases. Prof. Biswas said, “The overall patient load at MC(K) has recovered to almost 70% of what it was before the protest. Poor patients who could not afford private hospitals, many of whom did not have an emergency waiting for weeks, are now returning.
Assistant Professor Dr. Biswajit Ghosh of Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (aka SSKM), Kolkata, said, “The patient load is definitely going back. But it’s not 100% because we don’t have enough staff because junior doctors are protesting.”
A protesting resident doctor from the general surgery department at the RGKMCH protest site said that the patient load in the hospital has also increased although it is not as much as it was before the protest. He said, “The Emergency building is not working now after the crowd vandalized it. So, senior doctors are using the trauma care center to do emergency services as well. It is chaotic and difficult. The general surgery received almost 100 patients on Tuesday.
He also stated that doctors and female students who had returned home and left the hostel due to increasing fear of security issues at RGKMCH are slowly starting to return. He said, “Parents are still worried about our safety after what happened here. But doctors and students are coming back because their fears have subsided.
