Kanta Prasad Pal’s wife Monolata was lying on a stretcher outside the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, waiting for someone to treat her. The visually impaired couple had come from Sector 68 of Noida. “She is a dialysis patient, and her condition is getting worse; He has fever for two days. I cannot afford private treatment; I lost my job during covid. We waited for an hour and are now returning as we have been denied entry,” said 40-year-old Pal.
Like Monolata, patients in several hospitals in Delhi were forced to return as an emergency and other services were also affected, as resident doctors in centrally-run hospitals protested the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counseling. boycotted.
The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) has written to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya complaining that since there are no admissions in this academic session, there is a shortage of adequate staff in the health institutions.
Dr Anuj Agarwal, general secretary of RDA, Safdarjung Hospital, said emergency services at Safdarjung, Lady Hardinge, RML and some other hospitals were affected. “We had a meeting with the Union Health Minister, and he assured that he would look into our demands, but such assurances have been given earlier also. The protest will continue.”
The situation caused patients to wait for hours or turn away those in need of critical care.
Ashish Gupta (26) was waiting in an ambulance attached to an oxygen concentrator parked outside Safdarjung Hospital. His brother Nitin Gupta said the family has come from Mathura: “We first went to a private hospital in Jasola, but they asked for a lot of money, so we came here. It’s been an hour, but they haven’t got admission in the emergency ward. ,
Karishma Gupta, whose brother was admitted to Safdarjung after repeatedly pleading for help, said she had come from Hathras on Sunday night, but was then denied entry. “I tried other places as well, but they did not accept that. I came here again and on repeated requests, he was taken inside. But he did not tell me whether he would be treated,” she said.
Dr Aggarwal said that unlike the resident doctors, who are very critical, they are being treated with the help of senior doctors and faculty, who are not part of the strike. The latter constitute a major part of the workforce. For example, Safdarjung has 1,800 resident doctors while the number of senior consultants and faculty is around 300.
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