Junior doctors on strike at Patna’s PMCH, at least 6 patients dead

A sudden strike by junior doctors at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) in Bihar capital has claimed at least six lives. The strike has crippled OPD as well emergency services at the hospital as patients are left attended, said a report in Prabhat Khabar.

The strike was called by the junior doctors after a clash between relatives of a patient and a junior doctor at the PMCH. Angered over this, all the junior doctors of the premier health institution in Bihar capital decided to not report to their duty.

This is not the first time that such information has emerged from the PMCH. At least eight patients had lost their lives at the hospital during a strike by the doctors in August.

On Sunday, a 12-year-old boy was brought to the hospital after being bitten by a snake. As the condition of the boy was serious, he was admitted to the paediatric department. The condition of the boy also improved over the night.

However, his relatives demanded on Monday that the boy should be discharged so that they could admit him to a private hospital. Considering the intensity of the health condition of the child, the doctors at PMCH refused to give the consent for discharge.

Following insistence by the kin of the patient, doctors said that the patient could be moved out of the hospital without their consent. But the relatives insisted on a discharge clearance, leading to heated exchanges with the doctors.

In the course of the argument, the patient’s relatives assaulted paediatric department doctor Deenanath Singh and took the child to a private hospital. The development angered all the doctors at the hospital and hence the junior doctors called for a strike.