The Resident Doctors Association (RDA) at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will be providing elective OPD services in front of Nirman Bhawan from 11 am on August 19 in continuation of their strike against the rape-murder incident of a postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
In a press statement released on Sunday, RDA AIIMS stated, “Resident doctors will be available for providing elective OPD services of around 36 specialities (including medicine, surgery, Obs&Gynae, paediatrics, ophthalmology, Orthopedics and others) to patients outside Nirman Bhawan. Emergency services will continue as before at our hospitals.”
This decision came after a discussion with the Action Committee for Central Protection Act and the general body of RDA AIIMS, where “it was unanimously decided to continue the strike, as our demands remain unaddressed. This includes halting academic activities, elective OPDs, ward, and OT services, while maintaining emergency services, ICUs, emergency procedures and emergency OT.”
The release further stated that this was done to “provide the patient care services in the nation’s interest and as per our Hippocratic oath” and “to highlight the lack of security of healthcare professionals nationwide.”
They further urged “the government to accept our plea for an urgent central ordinance for the safety and security of healthcare workers and institutes” and requested the authorities “to allow for the same and provide the necessary arrangements for the elective outpatient services outside Nirman Bhawan.”
Earlier, on August 9, a postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, sparking nationwide strikes and protests by the medical community.
On August 14, the protest site and the hospital campus at RG Kar were vandalised by a mob, prompting security personnel to disperse the crowd.
