At around 11 a.m. on Saturday, the usually busy consultation waiting area located beside the two-wheeler parking at KIMS Hospital, Minister Road was eerily quiet.
Upon reaching the first-floor Outpatient (OP) department, only a few confused individuals could be seen waiting. Among them was 56-year-old Sudha from Sindhi Colony. “My son had been suffering from a headache all night.
The local clinic doctor suspected migraines, so we decided to consult a specialist here since it’s a Saturday,” she explained. However, upon arriving at the hospital, Ms. Sudha discovered that the hospital had suspended its OP and elective surgery services for the day in solidarity with the recent rape and murder of a female medical student at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
After waiting for a while, Ms. Sudha left the hospital, disappointed. This scene was the same across private hospitals throughout the city.
Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Jubilee Hills, walked out of Yashoda Hospital Secunderabad at around 11.30 a.m, after learning that no OP services were available.
“I understand the reason behind the suspension, but these hospitals should have communicated better with the public,” he remarked. The suspension of non-emergency services was in response to a nationwide call by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), urging hospitals to withdraw such services from 6 a.m.
on Saturday (August 17) to 6 a.m. on Sunday (August 18).
Government hospitals in the city, including Gandhi Hospital, Osmania General Hospital and Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), were also affected, particularly as junior doctors’ protests entered their fourth day on Saturday. “While junior doctors are protesting, professors have been asked to work additional hours to ensure patient care is not compromised,” said a doctor from Osmania General Hospital. Despite the suspension, emergency services remained operational across both private and government hospitals.
Patients arriving in ambulances and those in critical conditions were attended to without delay and pharmacies at all hospitals continued to serve the public. Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Telangana / Hyderabad / The fight against rape / sexual assault & rape / murder / patient / health / healthcare policy / arrest / police / crime / medical colleges / medical staff / medical education / medical service.
