Patients left in lurch as doctors on protest

Afzalgunj: Owing to the strike by the junior doctors who are opposing the passage of the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill by Parliament, patients of the Osmania General Hospital (OGH) faced a tough time. Several new cases remained unattended and the patients undergoing treatment were left in lurch. For some, saline and injection supplies were stopped, while others were attended to by the nurses present in the hospital.

It is learnt that only patients of emergency cases are being attended by duty doctors, while other patients are ignored or are left to fend for themselves. Nevertheless, on humanitarian grounds some cases after umpteen requests are being addressed.

Osmania Hospital, which is well-known for its services to both in-patients and out-patients, on Friday faced the heat of the ongoing strike by the doctors who expressed displeasure over the passage of the NMC Bill. A long queue was seen at the out-patient section and patients insisted on consulting the doctors. The attenders were seen running from pillar to post to get some medicare for their loved ones. "My father was admitted for a liver ailment on July 23 and the treatment is going on. However, for the last 4 days the patient has not been taken care of properly and much to his discomfiture, for the last two days even saline and injections were not provided even as he is suffering from severe pain," said Rahul Thakur.

Thakur said that due to the severe pain of the patient who was lying in a bed in verandah he made a complaint on the helpline '108' in morning and still there was response from any quarter. "No tests were conducted for the past two days. The CT Scan was conducted on July 30, and the reports are still awaited and are not even handed over. While the USG abdomen test was recommended on July 30 and it is yet to be conducted. When the patient goes for a test, they are being sent back as no doctors are available," said a distressed Thakur.

Another attender, Shaik Feroz from Falaknuma, said that his grandfather was admitted in OGH for heart ailment. He was being taken care of by a nurse for the last two days and no specialist doctor visited the patient yet.

M Janardhan, another attender, also expressed similar views, as for last two days the doctors were just entering the area and making rounds in their wards, but not attending on any patient.

Similarly, at Niloufer Hospital in Nampally, there were no doctors available for consulting patients. Patients were waiting in long queues. At the in-patient ward, patients were being admitted but absence of doctors remained a harsh reality. A patient's attender Altaf Khan from Talabkatta said that his sister was admitted in the morning. "Ever since she was not visited by any doctor, even as the patient is enduring severe pain," he said.