THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the government showing no sign of conciliation in the suspension of staff-members of the Government Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, the medical fraternity has decided to intensify their protests.
The Kerala Government Medical College Teachers’ Association (KGMCTA) has called for a two-hour out-patient (OP) duty boycott on Monday. OP will be boycotted at the 12 government medical college hospitals in the state from 8am to 10am. Meanwhile, KGMCTA said in a statement that it will be a token protest and that OP will be boycotted indefinitely from Tuesday if the suspension is not revoked. The association said that Covid, emergency and ICU services have been exempted from both protests. The protesting doctors have also decided to stop giving virtual classes for various medical courses.
They came out protesting on Friday after the health department put three staff-members — a doctor serving as a Covid Nodal Officer and two head nurses — for mistreating a patient. On Saturday, seven doctors of four medical colleges had resigned from the post of Covid Nodal Officer. Meanwhile, the state committee of the Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association submitted a representation to the health principal secretary to reinstate the off-duty period.