Ludhiana: Healthcare services across Ludhiana were affected on Thursday as doctors and other health department employees participated in the statewide strike called by various govt employees’ unions in support of their long-pending demands.The impact was visible at govt hospitals and Aam Aadmi Clinics, where routine healthcare services suffered due to low attendance of medical staff. Patients visiting health institutions faced inconvenience as outpatient department (OPD) services remained suspended at several facilities. Elective surgeries that had been scheduled in advance were also postponed.Despite the strike, officials said essential healthcare services continued uninterrupted. These included emergency medical services, maternal and child healthcare, emergency surgeries, treatment of admitted patients, medico-legal work, post-mortem examinations and forensic medical services.A health department official said doctors remained available to handle emergencies and other critical services to ensure that patient care was not completely disrupted.Dr Akhil Sareen, senior medical officer at Civil Hospital and state president of the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) Association, said the civil surgeon and all programme officers in the district supported the strike and participated in a rally held at the District Hospital.He said PCMS strongly supported the employees’ demands, including effective implementation of the old pension scheme (OPS), release of pending dearness allowance (DA) instalments and arrears, rationalisation of anomalies related to the seventh pay commission and an end to contractual, ad hoc and outsourced recruitment in government departments.Dr Sareen said the Punjab govt had positively engaged with the PCMS Association on several cadre-related and public service issues over the past few years and had responded favourably to many concerns.“In view of this attitude of the govt in the recent past, PCMSA is optimistic that the govt will positively address the just demands of employee associations and unions across Punjab,” he said.The strike also affected the functioning of Aam Aadmi Clinics. According to health department sources, around 70 of the 131 clinics in the district remained closed on Thursday. Manmohan Sharma, district president of the Sanjha Front of Aam Aadmi Clinics, said doctors, pharmacists and clinical assistants working at the clinics were already on an indefinite strike and would continue their agitation.Rajinder Singh, spokesperson of the Mass Media Officers Association, said all officers and employees of the department participated in the protest at the DC office complex. He added that employee groups planned to continue their agitation over the coming days.Patients, meanwhile, bore the brunt of the disruption. A resident of Ladowal said he cancelled his visit to the psychiatry department of the Civil Hospital after learning that doctors were not seeing patients. Surinder Singh, a resident of Chandigarh Road, said he came to the Civil Hospital for treatment of a respiratory problem but had to return without consultation.Health officials also noted that fewer patients than usual visited hospitals during the day, partly due to the strike. However, those requiring routine medical consultations and follow-up treatment faced significant inconvenience as healthcare services remained affected across the district.
