Resident doctors strike work after assault on colleague

AHMEDABAD: After an assault on a doctor at Gujarat Cancer Research Institute (GCRI) early on Thursday morning, resident doctors at Civil Hospital went on a lightening strike on Thursday. The state government and police intervened in the incident and held separate meetings as attempts to resolve the issue continued till late night and there is likelihood of the strike being called off. A high-level meeting was convened by Shankar Chaudhary, MoS (health), and representatives of Civil Hospital, after Chaudhary claimed that the demands by the resident doctors have been met and State Reserve Police (SRP) would be deployed on the campus, if needed. The emergency and other wards at the hospital saw complete shutdown after Thursday afternoon.The doctors had gone on a strike a fortnight ago after a similar incident. The Civil Hospital authorities had conducted meetings with student representatives and police officials on Thursday to resolve the issue.According to Shahibaug police, Dr Ashok Kumar Singh, 30, a resident doctor at GCRI, has mentioned in his complaint that relatives of a patient, Lakshmibai Jaiswal, a native of Madhya Pradesh, assaulted him at 12.30 am after accusing him and others of mistreatment and not paying attention. Singh had registered a complaint against Gowardhan Jaiswal, 32, Arvind Shekhawat, 23, and Akhilesh Pandey, 27, for assault.Narrating the incident, Singh said, "After attending to another emergency patient at CMO ward, I attended to her. However, as I was treating her, I noticed someone filming me and I asked the person to wait outside." "As a commotion began outside, I went to check but someone pointed a knife at me. I tried to protest and my hand was wounded," he said.As news of the assault spread, the doctors went on strike, demanding protection in form of armed gunmen at the wards. Around 900 staff, including nurses and doctors joined the strike. On the other hand, the kin of the patients alleged high-handedness by the hospital staff. A video that went viral in some circles on Thursday shows a man shooting the plight of the patient, alleging no attention to the patient even when she was bleeding profusely and there was no one to take care of her."The FIR does not mention that the doctor was assaulted, but states that a knife was pointed at him. Unless such issues are not addressed, our strike will continue," a resident doctor said. Parikshita Rathod, DCP Zone V, Manjita Vanzara, ACP, F Division, and senior police officials conducted a meeting with hospital authorities. A police official told TOI that apart from the security points demanded by hospital authorities, they have made additional points and have also deployed patrol vehicles in the Civil Hospital campus.