Representational
Resident Doctors Association of All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, on Tuesday withdrew their strike.
"With the decision of the protesting doctors of West Bengal to call off the strike, the resident doctors at AIIMS New Delhi to resume their duties with immediate effect," ANI quoted them as saying.
However, patients faced inconvenience on Monday as doctors at government and a few private hospitals in the national capital boycotted work to show solidarity with their striking colleagues in Kolkata.
Doctors at the Centre-run AIIMS, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital, and RML Hospital, and Delhi government's healthcare facilities such as GTB Hospital and DDU Hospital, along with some private hospitals withdrew non-essential medical services such as OPD, and held protests.
Outpatient departments (OPDs) and routine operation theatre services were shut down. However, emergency and ICU services continued to function in these facilities.
Meanwhile, doctors in West Bengal called off their week-long strike on Monday night after meeting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who assured them of steps to scale up security at government hospitals in the state.
At an hour-long televised meeting with representatives of doctors, Banerjee announced a number of steps, including asking police to appoint nodal officers for the security of doctors at all government hospitals in the state, following which the doctors agreed to end the stir.
A spokesperson of the joint forum told reporters here that the doctors will return to work as they want to give the state government some time to act on its promises, but they will review the implementation of the steps.
The end of the strike came as a big relief to hundreds of patients as health services have been disrupted across the state for seven days.
Banerjee directed the formation of grievance redressal units in all state-run hospitals as proposed by the junior doctors.
The doctors strike in Bengal had triggered a political slugfest between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP, which has intensified its attacks on Banerjee after winning 18 Lok Sabha seats in the state, only four less than TMC.
(With inputs from agencies)
