No Doctors at General Medicine OP in Manjeri Medical College; Patients Wait for Hours

Manjeri: Patients at the General Medicine outpatient department of Manjeri Government Medical College Hospital were left waiting for hours after around eight doctors from OP counters 5, 6 and 7 reportedly remained absent from duty at the same time. The doctors are reportedly attending a meeting being held at the hospital in the presence of the MLA and the district collector. A long queue of patients had formed outside the OP for nearly two hours. The patients included women, children and elderly people, leaving several ordinary patients who had come seeking treatment struggling for hours. Elderly patients, pregnant women and children were among those forced to wait. Patients who had travelled from distant places for follow-up consultations after undergoing surgery also had to remain in the queue for hours. Strong protests have been raised against the alleged negligence of the hospital authorities and doctors for holding a meeting during OP hours while patients were left to suffer. The situation was further aggravated by the authorities' failure to schedule such meetings after OP hours, when large numbers of ordinary patients seek treatment. The hospital authorities also faced allegations of failing to make immediate arrangements either to provide temporary relief to the patients or deploy substitute doctors.