Goa Doctors call off strike after CM assures Protocols, Security, End to VIP Culture

Panaji: Amid the ongoing tense situation at Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), where the Health Minister of the State recently berated and suspended a senior doctor, the decision to initiate a strike has finally been called off by the doctors after the Chief Minister, Pramod Sawant, visited the hospital and assured the doctors that "such incidents won't happen in the future".

The doctors decided to call off their strike after Sawant agreed to their demands, including the demands for protocols to put a stop to "VIP culture" in hospitals. A "symbolic" apology was also made to the chair of the CMO.

CM Sawant also asked Dr. Rudresh Kuttikar, who was berated by the Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, to forget the incident with a "big heart" and continue working at the GMC.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane had lashed out at GMCH Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Rudresh Kuttikar for allegedly misbehaving with patients during his surprise visit to the premier facility on Saturday and ordered his suspension. The incident took place during the Minister's surprise visit to the hospital.

Amid the ongoing protests, Minister Rane on Monday apologised on the social media platform X. However, Dr. Kuttikar had rejected the "studio apology" from the Minister and demanded that the Minister apologise to him at the site of their previous interaction i.e. the Casualty Department "within 24 hours".

Finally, the stalemate ended with the Chief Minister visiting the hospital and accepting all the demands of the protesting doctors. As per the latest media report by Indian Express, addressing the media after the meeting, the Chief Minister said, "They placed seven demands before me. We have agreed to fulfil the seven demands, including barring videography and photography in patient care areas and to appoint a police sub-inspector at the police outpost at the hospital and additional police force for protection. They demanded that such an incident should never happen again, and there should be a vigilance committee… and for protocols to be followed."

"Considering this and honouring my words, the Goa Association of Resident Doctors (GARD), faculty doctors, consultants and others have decided to call off their strike, and I thank them for that. The GMC is an apex medical institute. Such a strike would not be fair in the interest of the people, and if it were to continue, the patients and people would have suffered," CM Sawant added.

Addressing the demand for a public apology from the Health Minister, the Chief Minister added, "I have spoken to the doctors and to Dr Rudresh and the issue has been laid to rest."

Indian Express has reported that in the presence of the Chief Minister, all the doctors on Tuesday made a "symbolic" apology to the "chair"- on which the Health Minister had sat on during his visit to the hospital on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Dr. Madhy Ghodkirekar, who represented the Casualty Medical Officers at the closed-door meeting told the Daily, "The issue was misunderstood… Many people thought the (health) minister should come and apologise to the doctor. What it meant was that the minister should apologise to the chair that was insulted. Because it was the chair of Casualty medical officers, which has its own legacy and sanctity."

Ghodkirekar further clarified that Dr. Kuttikar had not asked for an apology for himself and added that the doctor had demanded apology "to the profession and the ‘chair’ (of the CMO) that he represents. The minister sat on a chair he was not supposed to sit on and did what he did. So, we brought that very chair, and all of us doctors, in front of the Chief Minister, apologised and pledged that we would not allow it to be insulted."

Explaining that while the main issue was the demand for an apology from the Health Minister, "...no government officer has the right to call a minister here to apologise. The health minister has apologised on social media, and that is fine. We are awaiting the contents of the apology to be sent from the proper channel to the concerned doctor."

While the representative of the Casualty doctors have taken this stand, a whiteboard at the hospital on Tuesday stated, "Public apology by HM (health minister), nothing more, nothing less. You can persuade one doctor, but you can’t convince all doctors to accept fake apology."

The President of the Goa Association of Resident Doctors (GARD), Aayush Sharma, told TOI that the CM agreed to all their demands. He also said that they were calling off all forms of protest "for the betterment of the people of Goa, because people of Goa must not suffer at any cost."

GARD issued a statement on Tuesday night announcing its unanimous decision to call off the impending statewide strike "in the paramount interest of public health and to prevent any disruption to patient care."

"We appreciate the Chief Minister’s willingness to engage with the medical fraternity and his assurances regarding our legitimate concerns, particularly the prevention of similar incidents and the cessation of ‘VIP culture’ in the healthcare setup. This dialogue was crucial when direct communication with the head of the state’s health apparatus was essential, but felt very much lacking towards the end," said the association.

"We would also like to reiterate that GARD remains unwavering in its commitment to the resident community and is in no way associated, influenced, or representative of any individual, their spokespersons, their statements or any politically driven agenda, and in no way associated with any incident causing humiliation of our own medical fraternity," it further mentioned.

Meanwhile, as per the latest media report by the Times of India, addressing the demand for a public apology from the Health Minister, doctors informed that "The health minister does not have the grace to visit GMC personally and apologise for his behaviour...His unrepentant attitude for the uncultured and arrogant outburst remains an indelible mark against him."

However, they also added that "if this incident escalates further into a battle of egos, it will lead to a complete shutdown of services at GMC, which is the sole tertiary healthcare facility catering to Goa."

CM Sawant has also informed the media that he would post a police sub inspector-rank officer at the GMC outpost and 50 additional personnel for the protection of the medical staff of GMC, TOI has reported.

He has also directed the dean and the Medical Superintendent to strictly prohibit any videography and patient care areas at GMC and also asked the Dean to enhance the grievance redressal system by setting up a disciplinary committee to handle comments by or against medical professionals. For the safety and security of medical staff, Sawant advised police to share a common mobile number to attend the complaints from GMC's medical professionals.

Also Read: 'Humiliated in Public, Apologise in Public': Doctors Tell Goa Health Minister