Chennai, Nov 14 (FN Bureau) Out Patient services in various government hospitals inTamil Nadu were affected on Thursday in view of the strike by various doctor’s associations demanding adequate security and to condemn the stabbing of aduty doctor at Kalaignar Centenary Multi-speciality hospital in the city. Doctors owing allegiance to the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors’ Association (TNGDA) and Federation of Government Doctor’s Association (FGDA) tookpart in the strike by boycotting OP services as a token protest. They associations said their stir would continue till their demands that includedenacting a legislation declraing hospitals as safe zones, deployment of policepersonnel in ICUs and casualty wards in government hospitals and adequatesecurity for their safety were met by the government.According to Indian Medical Association Tamil Nadu Chapter about 45,000doctors of government and 8,000 private hospitals across the state are onstrike. Ecept emergency cases and surgeries, all other medical services wereaffected following the strike.
The token strike comes in the backdrop of Health Minister Ma.Subramanian’s Wednesday night announcement that the doctors associations have decidedto call of their strike after the government agreed to consider their demands. Meawhile, security was strengthened in all the government hospitals and allthose entering the hospitals were subjected to thorough frisking. It may be recalled senior oncologist Dr Balaji Jagannathan was stabbed bya person, whose mother was undergoing treatment at the hospital for advancedstage of cancer. He had attacked the doctor alleging improper treatment as his mother’s condition started declining as the cancerspread to her lungs. The person, Vignesh was arrested and remanded in judicial custody.