Even as junior doctors across the state continue to be on strike demanding clarity on the guidelines on mandatory rural service, it is the poor people who continue to bear the brunt. Emergency services at government hospitals continue to be hit as junior doctors stay away from work.
“If there is a delay in service, patients prefer to go to private hospitals. Otherwise, most patients prefer government hospitals and get admitted,” said Dr Vamsikrishna, a junior doctor at Osmania General Hospital who is also boycotting his duties.
“Well-to-do patients go to other hospitals but poor people turn victims. Government should understand the situation and redress our grievances,” he said.
Though all the government doctors, asst professors, professors, postgraduate in-service candidates and transfer interns were discharging their duties, there is always shortage of staff.
“We only act as a link between patients and doctors. A number of permanent posts of government doctors always remain vacant,” he said.