Mysuru: Unaware of the 24-hour strike call given by the Private Hospitals and clinics against the Karnataka Private Medical Establishment (Amendments) Bill, here yesterday, majority of the patients were put to untold hardships as they were turned away from the hospitals.

The nearly 120 hospitals in city had suspended most of the services following the strike call from yesterday 8 am till today 8 am. Hence, it was a common scene to see the hospital staff refusing treatment and sending the patients back.

As the Out-Patient Departments were closed in various hospitals, the unsuspecting patients were put to a lot of inconvenience. In a few of the hospitals even the ambulances carrying patients for emergency attention were not allowed inside and the security personnel were seen chasing the ambulances away. ‘No Out-Patient Department,’ was the sign board greeting patients who had come for treatment of various problems in Departments like Medicine, Ortho, Surgery, ENT, Neuro, Skin to name a few.

Inhuman scenes were witnessed when the patients from rural areas were not even allowed to enter the hospital. This resulted in heated exchange of words between the relatives of the patients and the hospital staff.

It was also a sad sight to see pregnant women asked to go to Govt. hospitals. The relatives were seen cursing the managements of the private hospitals.

Apart from this, the closing of private clinics, diagnostic centres and nursing homes caused a lot of problems to those who were undergoing regular treatment.

Government’s indirect support to strike!

Is the Government itself indirectly supporting the strike called by the managements of Private Hospitals and clinics, is the question doing the rounds. The reason for this doubt is that the person heading the strike is the Indian Medical Association (IMA) State President Dr. Ravindra. He is the Secretary of the Congress party and had contested in the MLC elections as its candidate.

Even though Chief Minister Siddharamaiah has strongly criticised the strike by the private doctors, it is surprising to see a leader from his own party leading the agitation, which has led to the rumours of the Government supporting the strike indirectly.

According to one of the sources in the Congress party, Dr. Yathindra, son of Siddharamaiah, was seen advising his father about the adverse impact of the strike. It is learnt that the doctors who came to know of this unexpected support from the ruling establishment were seen praising Dr. Yathindra.