On Monday, OPD and emergency services at LokNayak (LNJP) hospital came to a halt due to a resident doctors strike after a postgraduate student of Maulana Azad Medical College was assaulted by the relatives of a patient.

The incident took place on Sunday around 11 pm when the attendants of a patient, who passed away during treatment, attacked the doctor on duty. In this attack, the doctors shoulder was dislocated and he sustained multiple bruises on his chest and abdomen.

The strike was called off later in the evening with the assurances from the government on increasing security on the hospital premises. The hospitals faculty expressed anguish over the attack and stayed away from duty thus postponing the routine surgeries.

Dr Saiket Jena, President of the Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA), said that the patient had suffered an acute heart attack and the doctor on duty could not save him despite his best efforts. Yet, the patient’s kin claimed negligence and assaulted the doctor.

Medical services resumed after 6 pm on Monday when the government gave assurances to protesting doctors that it would place CCTV monitors and provide additional security in the hospital to avoid such incidents. Delhi health secretary Sanjeev Khirwar said, that they have immediately agreed to their demand of deployment of marshals in the hospital, including in the emergency ward. On their other demands like the installation of CCTVs at other places, they are also looking into those aspects, and areas are being identified.

Almost 48 marshals will be deployed in due course, 16 in each of the three shifts across the hospital complex. CCTVs were already installed in some areas of the hospital and 10 of the marshals were deployed on Monday.

Due to the doctors’ strike, patients, who had come from western UP, had to wait for long hours outside the emergency ward. 53-year old Razia said in the afternoon, that she came from Moradabad and have acute pain in ribs. Her treatment has been going on for almost two months at LNJP. She has been sitting outside the emergency ward for over six hours, but there was no response due to the strike.

Shakuntala from Panipat also said that they weren’t allowed to enter the emergency ward by guards. They have been sitting there since 9 am, in the hope that the doctors will start seeing the patients in the afternoon, but they saw police and hence started to leave.

In the meantime, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said an act of violence against doctors is condemnable. He has directed the health secretary to consider the demands of doctors.

Two junior doctors at the NRS Hospital in Kolkata were attacked allegedly by the relatives of a patient who died at the hospital, following which junior doctors in West Bengal also went on a strike over lack of security at the workplace in the last month.