A sense of despondency has set in among patients visiting government hospitals in the capital, especially among those who need tertiary care and cannot afford corporate hospitals.
Elective surgeries are getting postponed, outpatient services are in disarray, inpatient wings have taken a big hit as patients hardly get to meet doctors, and emergency services are riddled with inordinate delays.
“It’s been almost 12 hours since somebody came to check my son. Except for the duty nurse, nobody has turned up.
“They are saying that doctors are boycotting duties, but what is my son’s fault? Somebody should come and check on him and tell us about his condition,” complains Ramaiah, whose son Krishna is in the surgical ward of Gandhi Hospital.
More than a week
Hapless patients and their relatives have been left to face the impact of junior doctors’ strike, which has crossed more than a week. “When I came here last week, they asked me to come today.
“Now, they are asking me to come next week because there are no resident PG doctors. Root canal filling is usually done by PG doctors and not by senior doctors, who only inspect,” says Kamesh Babu, a patient.
Elective surgeries hit
Elective surgeries in almost all departments have taken a hit.
The replacements, roped in from Andhra Pradesh Vaidya Vidhan Parishad (APVVP), in-service PG doctors, those on government payrolls and doctors from the teaching side are too few to fill the void.
Inordinate delays and postponement of check-ups have become the order of the day in the outpatient wing. “They are only taking emergency cases. Since my condition does not fall in that category, they are asking me to come next week,” says Krishna, who is scheduled to undergo a cataract surgery.
Additional doctors
“We have recruited additional doctors, but they can’t match the number of PG doctors.
“But we are able to run the show and are doing our best to conduct all elective surgeries between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.,” maintains Dr. M. Chandrasekhar, Superintendent, Gandhi Hospital.
