The Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of Amritsar suspended the strike temporarily as the administration responded to their demands. To recall, the association was on strike as a junior resident doctor was attacked by a patient on October 13.
Dr Dhanush Chandra was a junior resident doctor in the hospital’s Department of Surgery. Dr Dhanush was allegedly physically assaulted, and his intern was verbally assaulted by the assailant. In response to the attack, the junior resident doctors of the hospital, along with the Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) of Amritsar, staged an indefinite strike of all Outpatient Department (OPD) operations in the hospital.
Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter), RDA Amritsar said, "After 4 days of strike, RDA Amritsar has won their battle & decides to temporarily withhold the strike." In a statement issued, the association said, "OPD and OT services throughout the hospital and college will now be resumed as per roster."
"RDA is temporarily withholding the strike as it was requested by our administration under the condition that they will give us an update regarding the deployment of guards within 7 days," reads the statement.
Additionally, sharing more details, the statement further says:
1) Lodging of FIR has been a success
2) No counter FIR on us
3) Establishment of Police Chowki inside Emergency Room no. 101, adjacent to the EMO room
4) Posting of 2 Punjab Police personnel 24*7 involving a team of an officer and a guard in room no. 101. More force to be deployed as promised by the Commissioner of Police
5) Call for a meeting by the Health Minister and Health Secretary of Punjab to boost the process of deployment of new guards
This is a first, say doctors
“In these four months alone, we saw four instances of violence against doctors in this hospital, This is the first time in this college, and this district that an FIR has been filed against the assailant,” says Dr Arshmeet Singh, President of RDA Amritsar. He also says that shifting the police chowki inside the hospital is good for the security of the staff.
He further says that RDA Amritsar has given the government a week to show conducive results. “We were asked four days, but we called off the protest for three extra days. We are even willing to wait for two months for the government to beef up the security,” he says.
However, he also says that the protest would resume if they do not see things moving. “The GMC has been making this request for the past 10 years, and it never came through. We are always told that our request is stuck in the bureaucratic process. We have the support of all doctors’ associations, and we will protest until this demand is met,” he added.
To read more about the strike, refer to this report: https://www.edexlive.com/happening/2023/oct/14/amritsar-resident-doctors-association-calls-for-indefinite-opd-strike-after-attack-on-resident-doc-38210.html
