Abohar: Doctors’ stir paralyses health services
Doctors here continued their three-hour strike at government hospitals across the state for a second consecutive day. Due to this, OPDs remained closed and patients continued to face a lot of trouble. There is a 100-bed Sub-Divisional Civil Hospital at Abohar that was called Nehru Memorial Civil Hospital; however, the name was changed when the SAD-BJP coalition was in power. Since then, the hospital has been a victim of shortages of doctors and nursing staff, even when Surjit Kumar Jyani of Katehra village near here served as Health Minister. On average, the OPD here has to attend to 500 patients.
Dayal Chand, a resident of Kera Khera, said he was bitten by a stray dog, and he came to the Civil Hospital this morning for treatment. However, he said for about three hours neither his prescription was issued nor any doctor treated him.
On a similar note, 60-year-old Sunita Rani of Indira Nagari, who is a patient of blood pressure and depression, came to the hospital today to take medicines. However, she had to wait for a long time during the strike. Due to this, her blood pressure shot up and in the absence of staff, a scribe got her admitted to the emergency room, where Dr Sonima treated her.
In another case, Seema Rani of Rajanwali came to get her 4-year-old daughter treated. She said a week ago her daughter fell and got her arm fractured. She said she brought her daughter to the orthopaedist as an X-ray was scheduled; however, she said they had to wait till 11 am for the doctor to come in. She said her daughter kept writhing in pain for three hours.
An 80-year-old, Manna Singh of Patti Sadiq, whose leg was damaged due to infection, had also come here for treatment. However, due to the absence of a doctor, he faced a lot of trouble. He said it was difficult for him to sit, so he had to lay down on the ground with the help of a stick.
The protesting doctors raised slogans against the state government. They said they understood the plight to the patients. They added Punjab Government’s indifference to their problems was the reason for patients’ trouble.
