Patients are getting refused from government medical colleges and hospitals across Calcutta as the complete cease-work by junior doctors continued onWednesday.

While several were “referred” from one institution to another many were told to come back later for treatment.

Among those who were caught in the web of not getting any treatment or being asked to visit one medical college and hospital after another were several critical patients.

The junior doctors went on complete cease-work from Tuesday morning after they joined essential services 10 days back following a 42-day cease-work.

They are protesting the rape and murder of the 31-year-old postgraduate trainee at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

An elderly lady from Berhampore in Murshidabad, who had been diagnosed with a liver infection, reached Calcutta after travelling for more than five hours in an ambulance and was headed back home in the evening after she failed to get any treatment let alone getting admission despite doing rounds of Medical College Kolkata and NRS Medical College and Hospital.

Adhara Biwi, 62, was spotted lying on a trolley bed outside the emergency ward of NRS Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday afternoon.

She was flanked by her nephew Mohammed Maslam who earns a living as a construction worker and doubles as a farm labourer.

Maslam told Metro that his aunt had been diagnosed with a liver infection and had been admitted to the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital for the last four days.

“The doctors advised us to get her treated in Calcutta. We started this morning from Berhampore and had to come here in an ambulance,” Maslam said.

Maslam said they first went to Medical College Kolkata in the morning. There, the doctors referred Adhara to NRS Medical College and Hospital.

“We were told at the emergency ward of Medical College Kolkata to take her to NRS Medical College and Hospital for treatment. We came here but a doctor told us that admission was not possible,” said Maslam.

After waiting for more than an hour at NRS Medical College and Hospital, Maslam decided to take Adhara back home.

“I had to cough up ₹15,000 as ambulance fare and for food during the trip to get here. I managed to convince an ambulance driver to drop us back home for ₹5,000. My savings are exhausted. We also want justice for the young doctor but I cannot understand why we were denied treatment,” said Maslam before heading back to Berhampore more than 200km away from Calcutta.

Similar scenes were seen at Medical College Kolkata where a 51-year-old cancer patient had to return home after waiting for hours on end and still not getting any treatment.

“They asked me to come later,” said Swapan Sarkar, a fishmonger from Bongaon in North 24-Parganas.

Metro reported on Wednesday that since August 9, when the junior doctors went on cease-work, approximately 11 lakh consultancies at outpatient departments of government hospitals could not take place.

“Denial of approximately 70,000 indoor admissions is reported because of the ongoing cease-work,” a health department official had told this newspaper.

Nearly 10.5 lakh laboratory tests did not happen because of the dip in OPD consultancies and indoor admissions, said the official.

As many as 7,639 major surgeries did not take place at government medical college hospitals because of the cease-work.

A state health department official said senior doctors were doing overtime to handle patients but that was not enough.