Jammu News: The patient care services at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMC&H), Jammu, remained severely disrupted for the second consecutive day as junior doctors continued their indefinite strike over an alleged assault on two female doctors by a patient’s attendant.
The strike has crippled key services including outpatient care, in-patient treatment, and elective surgeries, while emergency services were being managed with difficulty by senior doctors and consultants but the limited staff has put immense pressure on the system, raising concerns about patient safety.
As the strike entered its second day today, tensions further escalated between the protesting doctors and the kin of the deceased, with both sides levelling serious allegations against each other. While the resident doctors accused the deceased patient’s kin of physically assaulting their colleagues, the family of the deceased levelled counter-allegations, blaming doctors for negligence that allegedly led to the patient’s death.
To express their outrage, junior doctors held a protest demonstration outside the Emergency Ward, demanding immediate arrest of the accused attendant involved in the alleged assault. Raising slogans in support of their demands, they asserted that they would not resume duties until the accused is taken into custody.
Pertinently, Secretary Health and Medical Education, Dr Syed Abid Rashid Shah, yesterday held a late-night meeting with the agitating doctors to defuse the situation. He urged them to resume their duties in the interest of patient care and assured that strict action would be taken against the accused. However, the resident doctors remained firm on their demand, refusing to return to work until the accused is arrested.
With no resolution in sight, the strike has thrown routine hospital functioning into disarray, causing inconvenience to hundreds of patients and raising concerns about the safety and working conditions of healthcare professionals.
Till the last reports came in, neither had any arrests been made by the police, nor had the junior doctors returned to work.
