With the strike by postgraduate medical students throwing the functioning of all medical colleges in disarray and derailing patient care, the government has expressed willingness to hold another round of talks with them, it is learnt.
Though it is yet to receive a formal communication, the Kerala Medical Postgraduates’ Association said it was a welcome move.
It hoped the government would put forth positive suggestions to resolve the issues of acute staff shortage in medical college hospitals (MCHs) (which has been aggravated by the delay in NEET-PG 2021 allotment) and that of stipend hike, which it had highlighted through the strike.
On Monday, with the house surgeons also joining the 13-day strike by PG medicos and staying away from hospital services, except emergency services, it was chaos at all MCHs. Outpatient clinics were seriously short staffed, leading to long queues.
Later in the day, the Health Minister’s office held talks with the house surgeons.
House surgeons joined the strike after they were left to handle all emergency services in MCHs on their own, without any supervision, which left them overworked.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Government Medical College Teachers’ Association (KGMCTA) wrote to the government that it would be forced to stop all academic activities in medical colleges and restrict patient care to emergency care services if no steps were taken to end the strike amicably.
Serious measures were needed to address shortage of human resources in government MCHs.
IMA’s stance
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) will be forced to join the agitation if the government did not take steps to address medicos’ demands, national president J.A. Jayalal said in Kozhikode.
