Kolkata rape and murder case: Patients dwindle in number in State-run hospitals as resident doctors continue strike

Citizens protest against the brutal killing of a doctor on duty at R.G. Kar medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
| Photo Credit: Debasish Bhaduri

Two weeks after the rape and murder of a doctor at Kolkata’s R G Kar Medical College and Hospital as resident doctors continue with cease work, out patient departments (OPDs) and in patient departments (IPDs) see significant decline in patient footfall in state run health facilities.

On a regular Friday OPD ticket counters usually remains thronged with patients in Medical College (Kolkata) trying to get their tokens and get treatment for their ailments. However, the scene on August 23, two Fridays after the murder of post graduate trainee doctor at R.G. Kar MCH was quite different.

Patients were sparse at the ticket counters, there were no long queues and services remained affected. The fewer patients at government hospitals across the State is a direct result of junior doctors going on strike. These resident doctors form the backbone of the public medical system in the country and the State. News spread like wildfire and people who could afford to visit private nursing homes or did not have emergency medical needs stopped visiting the government facilities.

“In the first week after the R.G. Kar incident footfall reduced severely. Our hospital used to get 2,000-2,500 patients in OPD each day. That number went down to 700-900 within a day or two,” Pranab Kumar Biswas, Head of the Department at Gynecology and Obstetrics at MC(K) told The Hindu. Dr Biswas further mentioned, “In my department itself footfall is down by 50%. But we have never stopped emergency or OPD services. 13 senior faculty members in the department are keeping services on. On regular days we got 400-450 patients including OPD and IPD, on August 23 it was 152.”

Dr. Biswas said that he was in complete solidarity with the movement and the junior doctors’ demands. “We feel ashamed to ask them to come back. All their demands are legitimate, none have been met. How can we ask them to come back if they do not feel safe at work?” said Dr Biswas.

He further mentions that it is hard for senior doctors like him and his other colleagues even older than them to do 12-hr night duties at such an advanced age, takes a toll on their health, but they are ready to pull through because they have faith in the movement. He also said that nurses have been a huge help and have taken extra load during these turbulent times to keep the system up and about. 

“Footfall is down by 50% across most departments. Physical labour has increased on our part. But classes are also halted now because all junior doctors and students are on strike, so we do not have the load of taking classes. We are putting in all our effort into running the hospital and catering to all patient needs,” said Biswajit Ghosh, assistant rofessor from Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research (aka SSKM).

“One of the reasons why patient load has declined is the rampant misinformation on social media and news media that has made common people believe that all services have come to a halt in State run hospitals. That is not the case,” a cardiology trainee at SSKM said.

Services hit across State

 Appealing to resident doctors to withdraw their strike, State’s Health Secretary N S Nigam said that the health services in the State are “severely affected” because of the strike. According to Mr. Nigaam about 10,000 resident doctors are on strike. The State run health facilities in the State witness about 2lakh patients in OPD every day.

Saumitra Kumar, associate professor of ENT at the College of Medicine and Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Hospital (aka JNM Hospital) in Kalyani in Nadia District, said the OPD services are witnessing less than one-tenth of the usual patient load for the last two weeks. 

“From around 300 cases a day, it has come down to less than 30 in the departmental OPD,” he estimated. The professor also highlighted that although the emergency services are unaffected and senior doctors have resumed work at the OPDs, a certain section of critical patients are still suffering.

Patients try alterative means

Several patients in the suburbs of Kolkata said that have resorted to using their Swasthya Sathi cards (a West Bengal government scheme for cashless hospitalisation benefits) while seeking treatment in the private hospital.

A snake bite patient in South 24 Parganas was taken to a local nursing home as the family had seen in the news updates that government hospitals were not fully functional. Though their patient did not survive, they did not have to pay a dime to pay off the bills. Immediate kin of the deceased said, “Nursing homes are jumping at the opportunity to admit more patients. They know they can charge us any amount and recover the bill from the government scheme.” 

A patient who was visiting Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital said that that even though the processes at the hospital are slow he is in unconditional support of the doctors’ movement. He said, “My eye operation may need some more time, but the victim should get justice. The culprit should be given strict punishment. He destroyed a home, destroyed the dreams of the young girls’ parents who had worked so hard to help her become a doctor.”