The junior doctors who are on strike at NRS hospital and elsewhere in the state-run hospitals have refused – for the second time in two days – to hold talks with chief minister Mamata Banerjee at the state administrative headquarters, Nabanna, — to bring a solution to the impasse.
The doctors have been on strike since Tuesday after one of them was beaten up by relatives of a 75-year-old patient who died at the NRS hospital. The relatives alleged that medical negligence had caused the death. Junior doctors had gone on strike demanding that the persons responsible for the attack should be arrested.
Those arrested in this connection for beating up the junior doctors have been denied bail. However, the junior doctors’ demands have now changed — now they demand that chief minister Mamata Banerjee must visit them at NRS Hospital and seek unconditional apology for her statements two days back at SSKM Hospital where she said the striking doctors should get back to work immediately or else they would be asked to leave the hostel. She also alleged that there were outsiders who were part of the agitation and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Left parties were instigating doctors to continue with their strike.
A team of senior doctors – Sukumar Mukherjee, Abhijit Chowdhury, Makhan Lal Shaha, Plaban Mukherjee and Alakendu Ghosh – met Banerjee at Nabanna on Friday evening, and the junior doctors were asked to participate in the discussion to work out a solution.
However, they refused the offer, insisting that the CM must visit them at NRS Hospital. Mamata Banerjee then scheduled another meeting at Nabanna – the state administrative headquarters – on Saturday 5 p.m. However, after several rounds of discussion, the striking junior doctors ruled out meeting the chief minister and other senior officers at the state administrative headquarters and said that the CM must come to meet them at NRS hospital.
Meanwhile, hundreds of patients returned without getting medical attention, and some incidents of patients dying due to lack of treatment was reported from across the state – including in Murshidabad and Burdwan districts. In the past two days, while emergency services have remained opened in several state-run hospitals from time to time, there were allegations of patients dying because they had been denied treatment.
The chief minister meanwhile, will hold a high-level meeting with the top officers and the five senior doctors at Nabanna this evening to work out a solution.
