Strike at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital leaves patients and families in distress, ET HealthWorld

New Delhi: Patients faced difficulties at GTB Hospital on Monday as junior doctors went on an indefinite strike following the killing of a patient in a ward, affecting medical services in the outpatient department, laboratory and other departments. “The hospital’s emergency operation theatre normally performs nine to 10 surgeries a day, but only one operation could be performed on Monday due to the strike,” hospital sources said. Junior doctors at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital went on an indefinite strike on Monday following the killing of a patient by a doctor while being treated.

“The strike began at 9 a.m. and disrupted routine patient care in all non-emergency medical settings,” said members of the doctors’ association.

Patients who came for treatment now have to face uncertainty and long waiting times due to the strike.

Shudarshan Prashad, who came for his son’s treatment, said the hospital had not admitted any new patients since morning.

“We can only hope that the strike ends soon because there are people here who cannot afford expensive private hospitals. This can cause serious problems for some patients,” said Prashad.

Another patient, Anirudh, who came for treatment because he had been suffering from fever for a long time, said that the hospital was treating only emergency patients and all other non-emergency wards were not functioning due to the doctors’ strike.

“We are here for our treatment but it will not be provided to us until the administration meets the demands of the doctors. I don’t know when the administration will decide whether to meet their demands or not. It is a complete waste of time and is endangering the lives of common people all over the world,” said Anirudh.

Many patients expressed anger at the ongoing situation, saying that such incidents on hospital premises were shocking and unsafe for anyone.

Meanwhile, other doctors’ associations also supported the strike.

On Sunday, a 32-year-old man was shot dead by a teenager in a ward of GTB Hospital in front of doctors and his relatives. The victim, Riyazuddin, was admitted to the hospital on June 23 and was being treated for an abdominal infection.

Following the incident, the Delhi government decided to deploy two armed guards and metal detectors at the emergency entrances of hospitals, Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said on Monday after a meeting with members of a doctors’ association.

“Met the delegation of Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) led by the State Chairman accompanied by the State General Secretary and Chief Advisor to discuss the recent incidents of violence in government hospitals. Following decisions were taken: 1) Installation of metal detectors at the emergency entrances of the hospitals. 2) Deployment of two armed guards at the emergency entrances of the major hospitals,” Bharadwaj said in a post on X.

Delhi Police arrested two people in connection with the case on Monday.