As protests against the RG Kar rape and murder case continue for the 27th straight day in West Bengal government hospitals, around 35,000 people are deprived of outpatient services each day, government data shows.
According to data from the state health department, the number of outpatients has been cut by half, down to 35,000 from the 70,000 generally seen in government hospitals. Likewise, scheduled operations have now been cut to 150 from 400-500 daily that these hospitals generally see.
Significantly, several senior doctors have been pitching in for OPD services since junior doctors began their protests against the rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.
“It had decreased to 30,000 but in the last one week, we were able to increase the number to 35,000. However, on average, more than seven lakh people are being deprived of specialised treatment in government hospitals,” said a senior health official.
The Indian Express went to Nilratan Sarkar Medical College and Hospital to see how people were affected. Rahiman Bibi, a 54-year-old resident of Sundarbans, had visited the hospital thrice since the protests began, and was able to meet a resident doctor only on her third visit.
“I went to the Out Patient Department third floor thrice but couldn’t find the doctor I was supposed to consult. Then I called the doctor and he told me he was at the dharna manch, so I went there with all my reports,” Bibi said.
A resident doctor, who declined to be named, emphasised that the purpose of the protest is not to harass patients.
“It is not true that patients are dying because of non-availability of treatment. Rather, since day one, we have maintained that senior doctors are there and we have also been seeing patients who have come to show reports. Today most of us junior doctors are at Lalbazar Abhiyan,” he said.
When The Indian Express met him, Mafzul Ali, a resident of Murshidabad, had been waiting at Nilratan Sarkar’s OPD nephrology department for over three hours.
“My turn hasn’t come. They say there are only a few doctors available,” he said.
Outside the OPD ticket counter, there was a long queue of patients waiting to receive tickets. Firoza Molla, a resident of Belgharia, was waiting for a doctor to see her 16-day-old baby.
“Since his birth, my son has had a tumour on his stomach. It’s such a struggle. Every time I come here, they advise me to just see doctors in OPD and go back because there are not enough doctors,” she said.
Despite the challenges faced by patients, the hospital administration insists that senior doctors are always available to see patients.
“Usually, 10,000 patients come in OPD daily, which has now reduced to somewhere between 3000-4000,” said another doctor.
According to hospital staff, each OPD unit typically has 4-5 doctors but since the protest, the number of doctors available has been significantly reduced.
But junior doctors, like the one quoted before, say they continue to see patients despite being in protest.
“We would like this message to spread that hospitals are open — OPD and Emergency services are all open for patients,” said Dr. Debdut Bhadra, a member of West Bengal Junior Doctor’s Front and one of the main leaders of the protest.
He added: “The patient rush may be less but senior doctors have been there since day one of the incident to serve the patients. We have maintained that our protest is apolitical, we want no violence or vandalism, and we have ensured critical patients are getting proper treatment.”
A senior doctor of the SSKM hospital agreed. “It’s true junior doctors are the heart of OPDs and that they would see more than 300 patients every day. But we’re somehow managing. We have to fight for justice and security for ourselves,” this doctor said.
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