Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Medicos call off strike

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The four-day-old strike by house surgeons and junior doctors at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Thiruvananthapuram, was called off on Saturday.

The decision to withdraw the strike was taken by the general body of the Junior Doctors Action Council that was held on Saturday afternoon. The junior doctors had been on strike since Wednesday demanding safe working environment after a doctor was assaulted by a group of miscreants while on duty at the casualty wing.

The decision was taken after the monitoring committee appointed by the council expressed satisfaction over the changes made in the casualty wing, according to convenor of the council Fysal.

According to Dr. Fysal, the changes that have been made include ensuring availability of life-saving drugs, restrictions on those accompanying patients, increasing the strength of the nursing staff from six to eight in each shift, shifting of the examination room and dressing room in surgical wing to one wing and making attack on doctors and hospitals a non-bailable offence.

The council, in a release, pointed out that they were calling off the strike and joining duty although several issues pertaining to doctors and patients remained unresolved.

Meanwhile, doctors went on an hour-long strike in response to the call given by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) demanding safe working environment. According to IMA, doctors in government and private hospitals worked wearing protest badges. The IMA has welcomed the decision of the government to make attacks on doctors and hospitals a non-bailable offence in the State on the lines of Andhra Pradesh.

According to IMA Secretary N. Sulphi, the Kerala Government Medical College Teachers’ Association (KGMCTA), Kerala Government Insurance Medical Officers Association (KGIMOA), KGMOA, and junior doctors participated in the strike.

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