Bihar: Govt Agrees to Provide Protection, Junior Doctors End Strike

Patna: The combined strike by junior doctors from three medical colleges has been called off after the state government ensured to provide security at the hospital premises.

Junior doctors from Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH) and Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) ended their strike after Bihar's Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar assured them that their demands would be met, confirms a recent report by IANS.

"All the striking doctors have returned to work after the government's assurance," Health Secretary Sanjay Kumar further confirmed.

The junior doctors from Nalanda Medical College went on a strike on August 7 after they were assaulted by a patient's attendants. As per TOI, a ruckus was created at the hospital by attendants of an elderly woman, who was brought dead to the hospital.

According to the junior doctors, the attendants were demanding that the dead woman be revived. An altercation followed when the doctors declared the woman brought dead. Doctors alleged that one of the attendants also fired gunshots in the air.

Responding to the incident the doctors went on strike demanding deployment of armed guards on the hospital premises. They have also demanded to barricade of central emergency and install metal detectors in different wards, including emergency and ICUs.

Later, the junior doctors from Patna Medical College and Darbhanga Medical College joined the strike in their support, additionally demanding a security cover to junior doctors during duty hours and protection and action against misbehaving attendants of patients.

Out of five, two of the miscreants were arrested by the police. “Two of the people who had indulged in violence were arrested on the basis of CCTV footage of the incident,” police officials confirmed to TNIE. However, the junior doctors continued their strike demanding a foolproof system of security.

When contacted, NMCH superintendent Dr Chandrashekhar informed, “The health department has agreed to set up a permanent police outpost on the premises of NMCH. A site for the outpost has also been chosen. Other demands of the junior doctors would soon be taken care of at the administrative level.”

The strike had left hundreds of patients in a lurch. Nearly dozens of patients died during the strike. Emergency units, ICUs, OPDs, labour rooms, IPDs and laboratories of the three hospitals were severely affected. Several operations were also postponed as well.