Outpatient services were not available for patients visiting private hospitals, clinics, diagnostic laboratories, ophthalmologists, dentists, ayurveda and homeopathy practitioners across Mysuru on Friday in view of the 24-hour strike call given by Karnataka Chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA) in protest against the State government’s move to regulate private medical establishments.
Though private hospitals, diagnostic centres and other medical establishments had not scheduled any appointments on Friday for consultation with doctors or for laboratory tests, a few patients, who came to the hospitals and diagnostic centres returned when they were informed about the strike.
However, the emergency wing of the private hospitals and intensive care units (ICU) functioned as usual. Also, the treatment of in-patients admitted to the hospitals continued as usual.
Almost all major hospitals in the city – including JSS Hospital, Apollo BGS Hospital, Columbia Asia, besides Kannan Diagnostic Laboratories etc – were part of the strike.
Dr. Basavaraju, Mysuru District Health Officer, told The Hindu that the government run medical establishments, including K.R. Hospital and Cheluvamba Hospital, in Mysuru functioned as usual and were prepared to address additional load if any on account of the strike on Friday. “But, we have not received report of any major impact on the patients on account of the strike,” he said and added that the numbers of outpatients and admissions were less than usual at K.R. Hospital on Friday and attributed the same to awareness about the strike among the public.
Meanwhile, hundreds of doctors gathered at the Platinum Jubilee Auditorium at J.K. Grounds to voice their opposition to the proposed amendment to the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Act, 2007.
M.S. Vishveshwara, president IMA, Mysuru, said the proposed amendments will hit medical professionals hard. Arguing that the right to profession is a constitutional one, Dr. Vishweshwara said it was the doctor’s constitutional right to fix an appropriate fee for service. Hence, the amendments were “unconstitutional”, he said. Pointing out that the government was not regulating other professionals like lawyers or engineers, he accused the government of singling out doctors.
He said medical treatment in India was far cheaper than in the U.S., UK and other countries. Patients from several other countries come to India for treatment as they find the medical services here affordable, he added.
The 24-hour strike, which began at 8 a.m. on Friday, is expected to continue till 8 a.m. on Saturday.
