Delhi medicos on strike after assault on junior doctor, demand better security

Even though West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee succumbed to the nationwide doctors' protest the assault on medical officers in hospitals is still on. Doctors at the Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) hospital went on a strike Monday over an alleged assault on a medical student by a patient's attendant, officials said.

As part of the strike, which started in the morning, both Mamata Banerjeeregular and emergencies services are currently shut, affecting patients at the biggest government-run hospital, the medical superintendent said.

The Resident Doctors' Association of the LNJP Hospital has claimed that the stir has been triggered by an alleged assault on a third-year student of Maulana Azad Medical College, who was on duty last night in the emergency department.

"A patient was brought to the ER department and later died of some complications. An attendant then assaulted one of the doctors," RDA president Saiket Jena alleged. "In the last few days, several such incidents of attack on doctors have taken place in the hospital premises. So, we have gone on a strike," he said.

Their main demand is augmenting of security deployment, including having marshalls in the emergency department, Medical Superintendent Dr Kishore Singh said. A meeting is currently underway between the RDA and hospital authorities, he said.

The incident comes days after two junior doctors at NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata were assaulted allegedly by the relatives of a patient who died at the hospital. Junior do NRS Medical College doctors in West Bengal went on a strike following the incident over lack of security at the workplace.