OPDs wear deserted look in Noida, govt docs wear black bands

Noida: Health services were crippled across Noida on Monday as most doctors in private hospitals and clinics refrained from work in support of the strike call given by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to protest the violence against medical practitioners in Bengal.
The three government hospitals in the city stayed opened for both OPDs and emergency services, but doctors there wore black bands to support the nationwide strike call.
Most OPDs in private hospitals wore a deserted look as patients had prior information about the strike. Some, however, had to return without treatment. OPD services were shut in almost all private hospitals, such as Fortis, Kailash, Metro multi-speciality, Metro heart institute, etc.
There were reports of some doctors functioning in Kailash hospital, Noida, but officials said they were totally in support of the strike call by IMA. Some had pamphlets supporting the strike pasted on main doors. A pamphlet stuck on the glass door of Metro multi-speciality hospital in Sector 11 read: “National medical strike, no more violence, we declare zero tolerance.” Chanchal, a visitor to the hospital, told TOI that only emergency services were being delivered.
A statement from Fortis said the hospital had closed down OPDs and non-essential services on Monday “to express their concern about the repeated acts of violence against doctors and other care givers recently at the Kolkata’s NRS Medical College”.