Healthcare services at AIIMS-Patna remain affected as resident doctors continue their strike against the alleged high-handedness of a local MLA. The strike stems from an incident where the MLA and his guards allegedly assaulted staff and brandished a firearm within the hospital premises.
FORDA said the decision to end the strike, effective from Wednesday morning, was made in the interest of patient welfare.
The protest continued even as the Supreme Court intervened in the matter and constituted a 10-member National Task Force to formulate a protocol for ensuring the safety and security of doctors and other healthcare professionals.
Long queues were seen at outpatient department ticket counters in government hospitals, where senior doctors joined their junior colleagues in the protest.
The strike will continue following the tragic incident at the RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, it said.
According to the Federation of Resident Doctors Association, during the indefinite strike, all outpatient departments, operation theatres, and ward duties will be shut, but emergency services will continue to operate as usual, ensuring that urgent patient care remains unaffected.
The court said abstention from the work of doctors affects those segments of the society that are in need of medical care.
The government on Saturday said a committee will be formed to propose safety measures for healthcare professionals even as OPD services were hit across the country as doctors joined the 24-hour nationwide strike called by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to protest the alleged rape and murder of a trainee medic in Kolkata.
Agitating junior doctors, whose nine representatives are on a fast-unto-death demonstration, termed talks with senior officials of the West Bengal government as 'the most disappointing meeting so far'.
Nearly 50 senior doctors of RG Kar hospital on Tuesday tendered their resignations in a mark of solidarity with medics who have been on fast-unto-death since October 5 demanding justice for the institution's rape and murder victim.
The junior doctors called off their 'total cease work' at state-run medical colleges and hospitals around 8.30 pm on Friday but threatened to launch a hunger strike till death if their demands were not met by the West Bengal government within 24 hours.
Two months after a junior doctor was brutally raped and killed, the doctors' protest in Kolkata rages on.
Both private and government hospitals have joined the protest, fighting for justice for the victim and demanding a security act for doctors.
"I cannot take this insult anymore. All the allegations raised against me are false and fabricated. A student movement has been incited to remove me. There is a political mind behind this. I had informed police within an hour of the incident. CCTV footage has been handed over to police," Ghosh said.
Healthcare services remained affected at state-run hospitals in West Bengal as junior doctors continued their cease-work protest.
Despite Banerjee's promise of a transparent investigation, the protesters criticised the delay, demanding a judicial inquiry, capital punishment for the culprits, and adequate compensation for the victim's family.
Agitating junior doctors in West Bengal resumed their indefinite 'total cease work' on Tuesday to press for various demands, including ensuring their safety and security at all medical establishments.
The e-mail, detailing the points which were discussed and agreed upon between the two sides and also those which weren't, was sent as per the state's requirement based on which the government is expected to issue directives, the doctors said.
The second round of talks between junior doctors and officials of the West Bengal government failed to break the medics' strike over the RG Kar issue, following the state's refusal to give written minutes of the meeting, the doctors alleged.
The association said that 25 states have laws on attacks on doctors and hospitals but these are mostly ineffective on the ground and do not serve the purpose of deterrence.
Non-emergency services, such as OPD and diagnostics, and elective surgeries at city-based health facilities, including at Centre-run AIIMS, Safdarjung hospital and RML hospital, are hit since Monday.
The protests by resident doctors at government hospitals in several states across the country ended on Thursday as major doctors' bodies called off their 11-day strike over the rape-murder of a trainee medic in Kolkata after the Supreme Court made an appeal to them to resume work.
The court directed the Kolkata Police to hand over the case diary to the central probe agency by Tuesday evening, and all other documents by 10 am on Wednesday.
The body of a woman post-graduate trainee who was allegedly raped and murdered inside a seminar hall of the hospital, was found on Friday morning. The civic volunteer was arrested on Saturday.
A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, which had taken cognisance of the incident, has kept the matter on top of the cause list for hearing at 10:30 am on Tuesday.
Candidates who appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Postgraduate 2023 exam will now be eligible to participate in the counselling process.
Intensifying its stir over the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling, a federation of resident doctors association on Saturday said its members will be forced to go for "mass resignation" from services if their demands are not met at the earliest.
In a statement, the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association said the decision has been taken in view of the developments in the last few days in connection with the issue, and the death of chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat and others in a helicopter crash on Wednesday.
The Delhi high court Wednesday told Ramdev that while he was welcome to have his followers, he should not mislead the public by saying more than what is 'official'.
According to RDA president Hamza Malik, the availability of protective gear for doctors at the hospital had reached a critical point when they had threatened to boycott work if necessary gear was not made available immediately. The crisis was however defused on the intervention of the AMU Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor, who assured them that their concerns were being immediately addressed.
With a view to streamline treatment facilities for MPs, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi has come up with a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) that include providing a nodal officer to coordinate and facilitate medical care arrangements.
"The allegations may be right or maybe wrong. He may say he did not say any such thing... It needs to be looked into," said the judge.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani said that he was not "comfortable" with the present draft clarification given by the yoga guru, remarking that it seemed "more like a pat on the back" and a justification.
A meeting between a delegation of the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) and Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya took place, but the doctors' body said, the 'response was not satisfactory'.
Intensifying their stir over the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling, a large number of resident doctors on Tuesday protested on the premises of Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital while the Centre urged them to call off the agitation.
The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on a plea related to the economically weaker section quota in connection with the NEET-PG admissions.
Resident doctors in Delhi, who have been protesting over the delay in NEET PG counselling for two weeks, on Friday called off their strike after receiving assurances from the government that their demands would be looked into, their federation said.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday issued summons to Ramdev on a lawsuit by several doctors' associations for allegedly spreading misinformation against allopathy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that the plea was not frivolous and a case for its institution was 'definitely' made out.
While five resident doctors of Hindu Rao Hospital had been sitting on a relay hunger strike since Friday, the senior doctors of the North Corporation-run facilities had gone on an indefinite strike on Tuesday. Their associations had joined hands in solidarity since Tuesday.
Several hospitals in the last few days have asked their healthcare workers staying in hotels during the quarantine period to vacate rooms immediately failing which the charges paid for their overstay would be deducted from their salaries. As per the Union health ministry guidelines issued on May 15, healthcare workers serving in COVID-19 areas do not need to undergo quarantine unless there has been violation in the use of PPE or any other form of high-risk exposure or they have symptoms suggestive of coronavirus infection.