Patients suffer as MMCH interns continue strike
Interns bring out a silent procession on the campus of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital yesterday, the second day of their indefinite strike protesting attack on their colleagues allegedly by the relatives of a patient on Friday. Photo: STAR
Suffering s of patients mounted on the second day of the indefinite strike by the interns at Mymensingh Medical College and Hospital (MMCH) yesterday. The interns went on strike on Saturday morning protesting alleged attack on their colleagues by the relatives of a patient on Friday. Sources said, Divya Joyati Saha, 13, a class seven student of Baro Bazar area in the district town was admitted to the hospital's ward 14 on June 1 with bronco pneumonia. But the relatives of the patient took him to a paying bed at ward 19 defying the instruction of the on-duty doctors, sources said. The patient's condition was not well and at around 5:30 pm, Divya Joyati Saha died of his complications at ward 19. After sometime, relatives of the patient with the help of outsiders swooped on the interns and assaulted a few of them. This correspondent yesterday visited a few wards of the hospital where the doctors were seen struggling to handle serious patients in absence of the interns. The striking interns under the banner of Interns' Chikitshak Parishad (Ichip) yesterday formed a human chain in front of the office of MMCH director at around 11:30 pm. Later they brought out a silent procession on MMCH campus. More than 150 interns joined the programme. Dr Arman Hossain and Dr Rony Roy, president and secretary of the parishad, among others, joined the human chain and rally. Director of the hospital Brigadier General Dr Mohammad Shahjahan held an emergency meeting with the hospital administration yesterday noon to resolve the crisis. Dr AFM Rafiqul Alam and Dr Motiur Rahman Bhuiyan, president and secretary of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) local unit and principal of Mymensingh Medical College Prof Dr Md Aminul Haque attended the meeting, among others. The meeting over, the interns met the director to press home their five-point demand that included immediate arrest of the attackers and tightening of security at the hospital to prevent repeat of such untoward incidents in future. Earlier they submitted a memorandum to the hospital authorities. Contacted, the director told this correspondent that the authorities are trying hard to make a headway so that the interns go back to duty. "We also asked the police authorities to deploy more force at the hospital to ensure safety of the interns", he said. A six-member probe body headed by Dr Shafiuddin Ahmed formed on Saturday will submit its report by Thursday, hospital sources said. Earlier in February this year, a few interns were assaulted by the outsiders and five of them were injured. Protesting the incident, the interns went on indefinite strike which continued for six days.
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