Country’s most government hospitals were hit hard as the intern doctors joined strike on Saturday protesting steps against the punishment to fellows who beat patients at Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital (SZMCH) in Bogra on February 19.
Patients writhed in pain and many had to go back without treatment as the government hospitals reeled from an indefinite strike launched by intern doctors throughout the country.
The strike is causing immense sufferings to the patients as only government employed doctors are serving in the wards.
Earlier, the Health Ministry has suspended four interns of SZMCH for six months for assaulting a patient’s relative.
The intern doctors vowed to continue their strike until the suspension order against the four — Nurjahan Binte Islam Naz, Md Ashiquzzaman Asif, Md Kutub Uddin and MA Al Mamun — are withdrawn.
On the call of the interns at SZMCH, the trainee young physicians of Rangpur Medical College Hospital (RMCH), Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College, Khulna Medical College Hospital, Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barisal, Dinajpur Medical College Hospital and other government medical college hospitals also enforced the strike and held protest rallies on the hospital premises.
According to reports pouring in from different metropolitan cities and district towns, the patients in these hospitals continued to suffer throughout the day as work remained suspended due to intern doctors’ strike.
There was also low presence of doctors in emergency wards of these hospitals.
In Bogra, interns of SZMCH continued their work abstention for the third consecutive day yesterday, causing immense sufferings to the patients. Kutub Uddin, spokesperson of the demonstrating intern doctors, hinted that they would continue their ongoing protest programme
until the authorities cancel the suspension order.
Sources at the SZMCH said, on February 19, four interns of the Medicine Department beat up and abused the relatives of a patient over an altercation.
Following media reports on that incident, the authorities launched a probe into the matter.
In Rangpur, RMCH interns have stopped working since Saturday morning and demonstrated in front of the hospital.
The protesters demanded withdrawal of the punishment meted out to four interns at Bogra’s SZMCH for assaulting a patient’s relative.
“Now the nurses are also taking advantage of the situation. No doctor is coming to attend to my brother, who was admitted to the hospital following an accident. He is now writhing in pain,” his brother said.
“We will continue with the protests until the penalties are withdrawn,” Rangpur Intern Doctors’ Council President Farhan Rahman told journalists.
Hospital authorities said they were trying to negotiate with the interns. “They cannot be forced to work; we are trying. The doctors are working extra hours to manage the situation,” said an official of RMCH Shafiqul Islam.
