HYDERABAD: As medical services came to a standstill across the country on Wednesday, patients in Telangana took a major hit.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA), Hyderabad, called for a Statewide strike of all elective medical services in the government and private hospitals, to protest against the National Medical Commission Bill, 2019.
Many private clinics in Hyderabad shut shop, while junior doctors across the government hospitals boycotted elective out-patient services.
This not only led patients being affected, but senior doctors who replaced their junior counterparts were overworked and out-numbered.
Patients from rural parts of the State were the worst affected, as they did not know about the strike.
The Director of Medical Education on Tuesday released a notice asking all government hospitals to arrange for alternative services to treat patients.
Speaking to Express, Dr B Nagender, superintendent of Osmania General Hospital, said, “We catered to over 1,975 out-patients on Wednesday. To make up for the lack of junior doctors, all the assistant professors and senior residents were placed for out-patient services, so that patients would not be affected.”
A similar alternative was also taken up at Gandhi Hospital, said superintendent Dr Shravan Kumar. He added, “Most of the non-intelligence work is done by the junior doctors, which means they just physically check the patients. However, medication administration, or intelligence work, is done by assistant professors and senior residents.”