Chennai: Out Patient services in various government hospitals in Tamil Nadu were affected on Thursday in view of the strike by various doctor’s associations demanding adequate security and to condemn the stabbing of a duty doctor at Kalaignar Centenary Multi-speciality hospital in the city.
Doctors owing allegiance to the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors’ Association (TNGDA) and Federation of Government Doctor’s Association (FGDA) took part in the strike by boycotting OP services as a token protest.
They associations said their stir would continue till their demands that included enacting a legislation declraing hospitals as safe zones, deployment of police personnel in ICUs and casualty wards in government hospitals and adequate security for their safety were met by the government.
According to Indian Medical Association Tamil Nadu Chapter about 45,000 doctors of government and 8,000 private hospitals across the state are on strike.
Ecept emergency cases and surgeries, all other medical services were affected following the strike.
The token strike comes in the backdrop of Health Minister Ma.Subramanian’s Wednesday night announcement that the doctors associations have decided to call of their strike after the government agreed to consider their demands.
Meawhile, security was strengthened in all the government hospitals and all those entering the hospitals were subjected to thorough frisking.
It may be recalled senior oncologist Dr Balaji Jagannathan was stabbed by a person, whose mother was undergoing treatment at the hospital for advanced stage of cancer.
He had attacked the doctor alleging improper treatment as his mother’s condition started declining as the cancerspread to her lungs.
The person, Vignesh was arrested and remanded in judicial custody.
