Senior doctors struggle with patient care, urge juniors to balance agitation with work

Senior doctors struggle with patient care, urge juniors to balance agitation with work 

Sumati.Yengkhom@timesofindia.com 

Kolkata : With the junior doctors staying away from duty for over two weeks now, their seniors in govt hospitals are struggling to provide services to the patients. Even as they attend to OPD, IPD and emergency patients, doctors said most cold cases are being deferred as they have to prioritise serious cases in the face of severe manpower crunch. Heads of various departments have started appealing to the juniors to balance ceasework with hospital duty. 

The seniors said that even as they backed the agitation, the absence of junior doctors was hampering patient services. The surgery department in IPGMER has six units. Earlier, each unit would conduct 10-14 surgeries a day. The number has now dwindled to just around five. In addition to assisting in the surgery, the PGTs were the ones who monitor patients post surgeries. 

“The agitation has crossed two weeks and the cold cases might aggravate now. Patient services are getting affected though the protest is legit. We request the junior doctors to make a roster so that some of them work while others are on protest,” said Seraj Ahmed, assistant professor of general surgery at IPGMER. The faculty members and other senior medical officers are putting in more than 12 hours at present to tide over the situation. Despite their ef forts, OPD footfall is still nowhere close to what it used to be even a month back. At Calcutta National Medical College, 13 senior doctors are managing the 200-bedded gynaecology department, which is generally attended to by 48 PGTs, 12 senior residents along with six house staff and some interns. The manpower crunch here is 66 now. 

“This was one of the most heinous crimes on a female colleague. We strongly support their cause. At the same time, patients who come to govt hospitals cannot afford treatment in private facilities. Devising a way to carry on with the agitation while returning to work could be a way out,” said Pranab Biswas, gynaecology head at CNMC.