Kolkata: Denied help, many keep languishing on pavements

KOLKATA: A local health centre in Canning had referred eight-month-old Rintu Mondal to NRS Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday morning and parents Bibha and Pannalal brought the child, suffering from diarrhoea for the past four days, to Kolkata by evening, hoping for treatment. But the child has been waiting since then as all medical services across hospitals have been suspended due to cease work by junior doctors.

“We have been waiting on a pavement outside the hospital for doctors to attend to our child, but they have categorically declined to do so. His condition is worsening and he has become semi-conscious due to dehydration and infection. I am afraid he may die without immediate treatment,” said Pannalal, who works as a mason.
Similar scenes played across government hospitals with patients from far-flung areas kept waiting as doctors refused to withdraw their strike. Ulfat Ara of Tangra, who drank pesticide after an altercation with her parents, was frothing at the mouth when her siblings rushed her to NRS in an auto. “She has fainted and is barely breathing, but doctors in all hospitals turned us away. We went to Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital and SSKM Hospital earlier, but doctors told us to leave. What is our fault? We have not hurt any doctor. Why are the common people being made to suffer like this? My sister will die if she is not treated,” said Munir Alam.
Emergency services and OPDs remained shut in all the hospitals for the second consecutive day on Thursday. Even stretchers and wheelchairs were nowhere to be found. Family members had to ferry patients from the vehicles on their own.
Akabar Hussain, a blood cancer patient from Malda’s Sheikhpara, has been lying outside Medical College and Hospital since Monday evening. The doctors’ cease work started minutes before he arrived after being referred from SSKM Hospital. On Thursday, his cousins had moved him under a shade and were trying to feed him. “We have been pleading with doctors, but they have refused us outright. We said he will die without treatment, but the doctors refused to listen to us. We cannot afford to keep him in a private nursing home,” said Anwar Hussain, the patient’s cousin.
Some senior doctors who spoke on condition of anonymity expressed their concern over the complete collapse of the healthcare system in the city. “This is sheer harassment, basically a battle of egos. Both the junior doctors and the administration are buying time to see who blinks first. But it is the common people who are suffering. Almost all services have been disrupted since junior doctors, interns and house staff play a crucial role in dispensing healthcare services to the common people. Those who are admitted are not getting proper treatment and their condition is worsening. Who will be responsible if anything happens to a patient?” asked a senior doctor at NRS Hospital.