Kolkata: Hospitals in the city are gearing up with measures to ensure patients were attended to during the cease-work call by doctors on Tuesday. Some have already deferred OPD appointments and surgeries that had been scheduled on that day. Even though it has not been specified by doctors if they would be available for emergency services, some private hospitals said adequate number of clinicians would be present to ensure patients were duly looked after.
Govt hospitals said they were keeping an eye on the CM’s meeting with junior doctors on Monday before taking a call on measures. “Non-emergency services and planned surgeries may be suspended on Tuesday. But the situation may change depending on the outcome of the meeting and we will take steps accordingly,” said a senior state hospital doctor. He added that some senior medics across govt hospitals were ready to fill in for juniors in case they stayed away from work.
Many private hospitals are bracing for a cease-work and keeping a team of healthcare professionals ready in case it happens. “All Manipal Hospitals and all our clinicians shall continue to serve emergency patients coming to our hospitals. Our nurses, support staff shall be there round-the-clock to serve patients. Emergency will be adequately staffed to take care of trauma and other clinical emergencies. Our helplines are there to guide patients and their families. Ambulance services shall be available round-the-clock,” said Ayanabh DebGupta, regional chief operating officer, Manipal Hospitals East.
Desun Hospitals is proactively addressing the upcoming doctors’ cease-work on Tuesday to ensure ‘uninterrupted patient care and services’. “We have implemented measures to mitigate potential disruptions. Emergency services will operate normally for unplanned and critical admissions, on-call doctors and medical staff will be available. Over 300 planned OPD consultations and more than twenty non-emergency surgeries and procedures have been rescheduled to later in the week. Senior nursing staff presence has been enhanced for that day, with senior doctors also on standby to provide additional support if needed,” said Shaoli Dutta, director, Desun Hospitals.
Some doctors’ organizations, however, hoped that the cease-work will not be necessary. “The decision to meet junior doctors could have been taken earlier. Hopefully, the CM will resolve the stalemate by accepting the legitimate demands of junior doctors, mentioning a definite timeline through written directives,” said Biplab Chandra, state secretary of Medical Service Centre.