Date:30/11/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/11/30/stories/2007113064260300.htm

New Delhi

AIIMS doctors call off OPD boycott

Staff Reporter

Photo: V.V. Krishnan

Crisis averted: This here is the scene at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi on Thursday before the doctors called off their boycott of OPD services.

NEW DELHI: Resident doctors at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences here who were protesting against the amended AIIMS Bill fixing 65 years as the retirement age for its Director called off their boycott of Out-Patient Department (OPD) services on Thursday afternoon at the instance of the Director, Dr. P. Venugopal.

The strike was called off after Dr. Venugopal appealed to the agitating doctors to resume duty and later moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bill.

Though the boycott call evoked a partial response with only a section of the resident doctors staying away from work, patient services were affected in the morning.

Some patients who had come to the Institute early in the morning had to wait for several hours before doctors could attend to them. “We were not aware of the fact that doctors were on strike today. We came here only to be told that doctors and technical support staff are on strike. Some of the medical staff also advised us to go back and wait for the strike to be called off. Patients like me who come from far off places find it very difficult when there are no doctors around,” said Kanhaiya Lal, who had come to the hospital from Noida.

Meanwhile, AIIMS Resident Doctors’ Association president Kumar Harsh said: “Though we have now decided against the strike, we will continue a silent protest wherein doctors will work overtime. We will also take out a silent march to Rashtrapati Bhavan and submit a memorandum to President Pratibha Patil to protest against the Bill. Doctors will also sport a black ribbon while working to register our protest.”

Earlier, AIIMS Medical Superintendent D. K. Sharma had also asked the resident doctors to refrain from boycotting work. He, however, maintained that patient care was not badly hit because of the boycott.

“All OPDs functioned normally when I supervised work in the morning. Only a few doctors boycotted work and normal work schedule was resumed in the afternoon,” said Dr. Sharma.