Docs' strike Day 2: Patients return home without treatment

New Delhi: A 47-year-old patient from Chhattisgarh's Raipur who travelled to Delhi for treatment at the AIIMS due to severe chest pain and breathing difficulties had to return home without receiving care as the doctors continued their strike for the second day against the rape-murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata.

A hospital staff member at the AIIMS here told PTI that only patients with prior appointments were being treated while the doctors were on strike. However, a few resident doctors were still seen attending to the patients, such as in Unit 2 Pediatrics, where the resident doctors were providing care. A female patient, who travelled from Raipur for her check-up, had been receiving treatment for a long time and needed to return for her follow-up due to chest pain and breathing issues. "I have been a cardiology patient here for a long time and I travelled from Raipur as I've been experiencing chest pain and breathing issues. But I didn't have a stamp on my appointment slip. So, I was asked to come back tomorrow," she said.

"In the special clinic at the AIIMS, Delhi, for cardiac patients, only those who had a stamped appointment with the doctor were being seen. The rest, who didn't have the stamp, were asked to return," she added. A 34-year-old man from Sona village in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur said it is very difficult to get treatment as most of the doctors are on strike.

"I came here at 7 am and since then, I've been shuffled from one department to another. It's now 2 pm and I'm just running from one place to another. With the doctors on strike, it's becoming difficult, as there are already too many patients in the government hospitals who can't get treated even on normal days," he said. Meanwhile, over a thousand resident doctors holding banners and posters marched through the hospital premises chanting "no safety, no duty" and "justice for victims".

A junior resident doctor, with tears in her eyes, said, "As doctors, we do not like to protest and disrupt services, but we must stand up for our colleagues. This situation could happen in Delhi, Mumbai or anywhere else."