Junior doctors of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, under fire for their continuing cease-work over the rape and murder of their colleague on Augist 9, have decided to set up a telemedicine clinic for four hours every day.

The junior doctors’ strike, which encompasses all government hospitals, has hit hard the common people who cannot afford expensive private healthcare hubs.

“Keeping public interest in mind,” the junior doctors of RG Kar have decided to start the Abhaya Telemedicine Clinic from 10 am to 2 pm every day, starting from Saturday, August 31.

Telemedicine is a way of providing medical care remotely using technology like phone calls or video chats. The clinic, named after one of the names given to the rape-murder victim by chief minister Mamata Banerjee, has been set up to provide essential medical consultations remotely.

The numbers to call are: 8777565251, 8777569399, 8777579517, 6290326079.

In addition to the telemedicine services, the RG Kar junior doctors plan to launch an in-person clinic in the Kumartuli area starting from Sunday, September 1.

“People are continuously accusing doctors for not doing their duty which is harming the public, so the junior doctors of RG Kar hospital have organised this camp,” Dr Devalina Bose, a student at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, told The Telegraph Online.

“We never had the objective of compromising patient care. We want to serve our patients, but we will not use government infrastructure for that as it is not usable. We do not feel safe there anymore. We have decided to set up a camp in the Kumartuli area tomorrow where we will provide our services. From today onwards, we are available to provide telemedicine services and from tomorrow a camp will be set up.

“As many as 10 to 15 doctors will be available for patient care,” she added.

The Abhaya clinic in the Kumartuli area will also have 10 to 15 junior doctors to attend to patients.

The Telegraph Online Sources

“We are doing this for public interest,” Dr. Anudrita Baral, a house staff member at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, told The Telegraph Online. “We are not going to stop cease-work but we always want patients to receive treatment. We just want to review the issues of our patients and provide them a general check-up hence this camp is being set up. On what basis can we admit patients in our hospital and tell them that they are secure when we ourselves are not.”

As per a report of The Telegraph published on August 30, the cease-work by junior doctors in West Bengal has severely impacted patient care with nearly seven lakh patients denied treatment at outpatient departments (OPDs) across government teaching hospitals already.

The number of patients treated daily at OPDs has dropped from an average of 69,000 before the protests to 32,000. Daily hospital admissions have decreased from 6,500 to 4,500, and the number of laboratory tests, including critical biopsies for cancer diagnosis, has fallen by half, from 57,000 to 28,000.

Medical college hospitals in Calcutta and nearby areas, which usually see the highest patient footfall, are the most affected. The number of cardiac procedures performed weekly has dropped from over 500 to just 175 since the protests began on August 9. Thousands of beds in these hospitals remain vacant, but due to the shortage of available doctors, many patients are being turned away.

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“I don’t understand why this allegation is being put on junior doctors time and again, senior doctors were always available to look after patients,” Dr Baral said when The Telegraph Online pointed out the suffering of the common people.

“Emergency services were always running,” she added. “I don’t understand why we are being asked this question again and again. I have seen my seniors being available for patients always during this protest period. This is a junior doctors’ strike. After the [August] 14th night attack we have shifted emergency and trauma care to one building, that is also for public interest. I simply don’t understand why this allegation then.”