Punjab: Patients bear the brunt as doctors suspend ambulance for 3 hours

Government doctors in Punjab have stopped operations of clinics across the state for three hours starting Monday to enforce their demands, which include ensuring guaranteed career advancement.

The protest, held under the banner of the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) Association, blocked outpatient clinics in district and sub-district hospitals and community health centres for three hours.

The union said that safety measures promised by the Health Minister have not yet been implemented on site and that despite repeated discussions, the government has not issued a formal communication on timely transport, a key demand of the ongoing protest.

PCMS Association President Dr Akhil Sarin said the union had earlier announced the suspension of medical services indefinitely from September 9. “Instead of a complete closure indefinitely, we have suspended outpatient services for three days from 8 am to 11 am,” he said, adding that emergency medical services would continue.

Dr Sarin said the change in the call for the protest was in response to an appeal from the Health Minister and an invitation to a meeting on Wednesday with the Finance Minister, who heads the Cabinet subcommittee.

He said the protest had been scaled down in the public interest.

The PCMSA warned that if no significant result emerges from the September 11 meeting and the promotion notice is not issued, there will be a full-scale strike starting September 12. The Assured Career Progression (ACP) scheme is a program that provides financial benefits and higher salaries to government employees.

Patients in the emergency room in Bathinda

Health services in Bathinda and neighbouring districts in southwest Punjab were disrupted on Monday when doctors at government hospitals went on strike for three hours from the morning until 11 a.m.

Patients were seen waiting outside the OPD block of Shaheed Bhai Mani Singh Civil Hospital in Bathinda. Protesting doctors demanded that the state government deploy security personnel in the OPD and other wards for the safety of health workers.

A doctor at the local hospital said there have been several cases where nurses and relatives of patients have abused doctors under various pretexts. “Female doctors and other female staff are always afraid of physical and sexual violence when there are no security measures. The state government should deputize adequate number of security guards,” said another doctor.

Long queues in Jalandhar hospitals

Health services in all government health facilities in the Doaba region were paralyzed for three hours.

Long queues of patients formed outside the local civil hospital. Rajwinder Singh, who had come from Nakodar, said he had come to visit the orthopedic department but only came to know about the strike in the morning. “I had no option but to wait for the strike to end to see a doctor for my knee pain,” he said.

Another patient, Manjit Kaur, said it was sad that doctors were also forced to go on strike to meet their demands. “We stand with the doctors because the safety of the medical professionals and paramedical staff should be the top priority,” she said.

Health workers struggle with backlog

Patients were left in the lurch at public hospitals and other health centres in Amritsar district as medical staff began a three-hour strike and suspended outpatient services on Monday in response to the nationwide strike call.

The strike hit the health care system at the district-level Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital. Patients, unaware of the strike call, came to the outpatient department to find the doors of the doctors’ rooms locked. They waited for treatment to resume. Medical staff struggled to control the rush of patients.

Dr Sameet Singh, district president of the doctors’ association, said the strike would continue daily until the meeting with the government on September 11. “If our demands are not met, the strike will continue,” he added.

Patients left in Patiala behind

Outpatient services at Government Mata Kaushalya Hospital remained suspended, with patients bearing the brunt.

Long queues of patients formed in front of the emergency departments of civil and district hospitals; many of them had only learned about the strike that morning.

Mehar Singh, a patient at Government Mata Kaushalya Hospital, said, “When I arrived at 8 am, I was told that the doctors were on strike until 11 am.”

It was a similar story in Hoshiarpur too. Local resident Harpreet Singh had taken his father Sukhwinder Singh to a government hospital to get his swollen leg treated. Harpreet, who was unaware of the doctors’ strike, said he was helpless.

“Due to financial reasons, I cannot afford private medical treatment and have no choice but to wait for the end of the strike,” he added.

Another patient, Malti Marwaha (48) from Vijay Nagar in Hoshiarpur, reported a similar experience.

“The government should inform people in advance about the health workers’ strike so that patients do not waste time coming to government health facilities,” she said.

(With contributions from Vishal Joshi, Navrajdeep Singh, Karam Prakash and Surjit Singh & Agencies)