New Delhi|HL Correspondent
We reached LNJP hospital around 10.30 AM and got the Out Patient Department card and we went around for treatment. “As my mother’s condition worsened, we took her to the emergency ward, where no one attended her said Shabbir son of Shabra Begum who died today as not get treatment on time.
A 70-year-old woman today died at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) here allegedly due to delay in treatment amid the ongoing strike called by doctors against the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission.
A 70, year old, Shabra Begum, a resident of Laxmi Nagar in east Delhi, had swelling and pain in her abdomen and respiratory problem and her son Shabbir alleged that they had to wait for nearly two hours for treatment due to the strike in the hospital.
At LNJP hospital we were told that there were no doctors because of the strike and that she should be taken to AIIMS.
“Then finally a doctor came and gave her an injection following which she started frothing at the mouth and passed away around 12.30 PM,” said Shabbir.
However, Medical Director, LNJP hospital, Dr Deepak Tempe said no patient died because he or she was unattended.
“1,691 patients were seen by doctors in OPD, while 185 patients were seen in the casualty till 4 PM,” he said, adding, “25 patients were admitted and there were three deliveries and 13 operations out of which three were major.”
“All these happened when most of the resident doctors were absent. That apart, 1,400 indoor patients were also looked after and provided necessary care. No patient died because he or she was unattended,” said Tempe.
While Begum died, several patients were left in lurch in the wake of the one-day strike called by more than 22,000 resident doctors in the national capital who are demanding increase in their salaries and allowances.
Patients who visited government hospitals for treatment had to face a harrowing time and were seen moving from pillar to post to get aid in light of the strike.
There were banners and posters in the hospital which read: “Come tomorrow for the treatment”.
Similarly, an 18-year-old youth who met with an accident had to wait for long before getting treatment in the emergency section of the GTB Hospital, while a number of surgeries were postponed in several hospitals, sources said.
Meanwhile, doctors from LNJP, Ram Manohar Lohia, GB Pant and other government hospitals gathered at Lady Hardinge hospital and took out a protest march up to Jantar Mantar.
They have threatened to go on indefinite strike from June 1, if their demands are not met.
The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA),
an umbrella organisation of 15,000 resident doctors across 41 government hospitals in the national capital, has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to revise the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission which they termed were “particularly discriminating to doctors”.
“If our demands are not fulfilled even after that, we will go on indefinite strike from June 1,” said Dr Narayan Dabas, Convenor, FORDA.
Doctors have been opposing since November last the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission and have been demanding an increase in the non-Practising Allowance (NPA) to 40 per cent from existent 25 per cent. In the 7th Pay Commission recommendations it has been reduced to 20 per cent.
“The basic pay and NPA were merged together while calculating House Rental Allowance (HRA) earlier, but this has now been omitted and HRA will be calculated only with basic pay resulting in less than the desired salary.
“Against the desirable density of 85 physicians per lakh of population, the availability is 57 physicians. But the CPC has only observed this scarcity and has done little only to boost the morale of the doctors,” said Dr Pankaj Solanki, President of FORDA.
The association also demanded uniform pay scales, night shift allowances which currently exists for nursing staff in government hospitals and the formulation of a uniform central residency scheme for the resident doctors of India.
