RG Kar Hospital rape-murder: Doctors at all govt, pvt hospitals call OPD shutdown today
Times of India | 14 August 2024
The decision to stay away from OPD services from 8 am to 4 pm on Wednesday was taken after a convention at NRS Medical College KOLKATA: Out-patient services are feared to be crippled on Wednesday with senior doctors calling for a one-day OPD shutdown across all public and private hospitals in the state. The shutdown call in protest against the rape and murder of the 31-year-old PGT doctor came from the Joint Platform of Doctors West Bengal (JPDWB), comprising senior doctors from private and govt hospitals.
"We are bound to call this OPD closure on Wednesday to seek a fair probe and justice for the PGT doctor, who was raped and murdered during her hospital duty. Moreover, the new principal, who has been put in charge of RG Kar, has multiple allegations of financial irregularities. How could the state replace one corrupt person with another?" said general surgeon Manas Gumta of JPDWB. The entire doctor community in Bengal has announced a complete closure of all OPD and non-emergency services from 8 am to 4 pm on Wednesday, in all govt and private hospitals, as well as in individual chambers.
The decision for the OPD shutdown was taken after a citizens' convention organised by the forum at NRS Medical College.
In a rare show of solidarity, this is the first time that both govt and corporate-sector doctors have called for the OPD closure. Close to 35,000 patients will be affected if OPDs in the five govt medical colleges in Kolkata alone don't open. In addition, private hospitals as well as other medical institutes, teaching post-graduate courses, run OPD services. The OPD footfall in private hospitals varies between 500 and 1,500 a day, according to the bed count of the hospital. Most senior doctors in private hospitals TOI spoke to said they would stay away from OPD services. "We hope the public will understand the reasons and compulsions behind this decision, which we have reluctantly taken," said Punyabrata Goon and Hiralal Konar, joint convenors of JPD.
The platform for doctors has also raised concerns over the renovation in the respiratory medicine department adjacent to the seminar hall, the scene of the crime. They alleged it was another attempt at tampering with evidence in the crime scene. "We demand the arrest of all culprits as more people are probably involved in the crime," said pathologist Sunkanta Chakraborty of JPDWB.