As talks fail, Gandhi Hospital doctors continue protest

The striking junior doctors of the state-run Gandhi Hospital refused to relent, as they were not satisfied with Health Minister Eatala Rajender's response on their main demand of decentralisation. The doctors want other hospitals to share the workload with Gandhi Hospital, which is the only one providing COVID-19 treatment.

Hyderabad (Telangana):Junior doctors of the state-run Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad continued their strike on Thursday, after talks with state Health Minister Eatala Rajender bore no fruit.

The junior doctors began their protest on Tuesday night after the alleged attack on a doctor by the kin of a COVID-19 patient who passed away.

Health Minister Rajender, who condemned the attack on the duty doctor, reached the Gandhi hospital for talks yesterday, and discussed with the junior doctors their problems for four hours, an official release said.

He informed them that he would meet their representatives every week at the hospital itself and assured to resolve all their problems, following which the junior doctors said they were calling off their agitation, it said.

The doctors want other hospitals in the state to share the workload

However, as Rajender said a decision on decentralisation of COVID-19 treatment would be announced after discussing the matter with the Chief Minister, the doctors said their protest would continue as their main demand of decentralisation of COVID-19 treatment in the state has not been met.

Today, the Telangana Junior Doctors Association (TJUDA) wrote a letter to the hospital superintendent, announcing that their strike would continue.

As Gandhi hospital is the only government hospital where treatment for coronavirus is being provided, the doctors wanted other hospitals in the state also to share the work load.

Read:Docs in Hyderabad protest as kin of dead COVID-19 patient goes on rampage