HYDERABAD: While patients in private hospitals seemed to empathise with the nationwide strike called by the Indian Medical Association, the worst hit were patients who came for out-patient services in government hospitals.
Doctors and medical professionals from across the city refused to provide services for 24 hours to condemn the brutal attack on a junior doctors in Kolkata.
Osmania General Hospital deals with close to 2,000 OPD cases every day, while Gandhi Hospital sees at least 2,500 and Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences services over 1,800 OPD patients.
At Osmania General Hospital, the OPD ward wore a deserted look with the gate of the registration area under lock and key.
Patients from rural areas were spotted in the waiting zone in large numbers as most of them were not aware of the strike. Superintendent of OGH, Dr. B Nagender, said, “We understand the gravity of the situation and therefore post 12 pm we are treating most patients in the casualty ward as emergency cases.”
However, P Pandu, a patient from Maheshwaram, had travelled to OGH with his entire family to get his blood reports checked.
Doctors refused to cater to his case saying it wasn’t an emergency and asked him to come back the next day. “We aren’t literate enough to know about the strike. We will be sleeping on the hospital premises today, and scrap for food later. We really do not have much choice,” he said.