Delhi: AIIMS doctors boycott work to support strike in WB

Thousands of patients in the national capital were hit hard after the doctors at AIIMS Delhi halted health services in support of Kolkata counterparts today.

Junior doctors in Kolkata have been on strike after two of their colleagues were attacked and seriously injured over an issue of alleged negligence at the NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on Tuesday.

"My sister was supposed to go for eye surgery. She has a tumour in one of her eyes. We reached the hospital as per the given time but the room was locked. The staff at the hospital said that the doctors are on strike. I don't know what when this strike would end," said Mohammed Arif, a resident of Delhi.

Santosh Kumar also narrated his ordeal and said due to strike they are forced to take treatment for his mother from a private hospital and being a poor he cannot afford it.

"I am poor and have come from a very far place. Doctors here are on strike. My mother is having a kidney problem. They told me to take her to a private hospital for the dialysis. I am poor and cannot afford it," Kumar said.

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan on Thursday, while condemning the "recent incidents of violence", urged patients and their caregivers to exercise restraints. The minister also assured that he will take up the matter with the chief ministers of states so that such incidents can be avoided in the future.