Doctors struck work in private clinics and hospitals here on Saturday, demanding legal protection. Many doctors shut down their clinics for the day from 6 a.m. and also did not report to healthcare centres for their private practice except for emergency cases.
Extra duty
“Instead, the doctors served extra duty in all government hospitals and primary healthcare centres to ensure that the additional inflow of patients due to the private doctors’ strike was met,” said K. Senthil, State president, Tamil Nadu Government Doctors’ Association.
The doctors wore black badges while on duty at Government Rajaji Hospital and other government healthcare centres.
Dr. Senthil said that there was a necessity to have legal clauses which protected doctors.
“There are numerous instances of people misusing law and accusing doctors of having caused them damage when it might actually not be the case. The people who are filing complaints or accusing doctors must be asked to present concrete evidence before we are taken to trial,” he said.
He said that concerns had been raised about doctors “discriminating against patients based on caste” which was something that they would not do.
“While we respect the judiciary, we are calling for more practicality to be involved and legal immunity for doctors with regard to certain cases,” he stressed.