Interns at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) have ended their 24-hour work stoppage this morning following reassurances from hospital officials regarding their demands. The decision was announced during a press conference held at the office of the emergency department in-charge at around 9:30 am.
The strike was initiated at 9:00 am the previous day in response to alleged mistreatment by relatives of patients over the preceding two days. Tanvir Ahmed Toukir, representing the interns, clarified that there was no neglect in the patient’s care. He explained that despite the patient requiring ICU admission and being queued for it, there was no available bed due to full capacity at that time. Additionally, the on-duty intern was already attending to two other critically ill patients when the unfortunate incident occurred.
The patient, Juliara Begum, 50, passed away on Monday night while receiving treatment in Ward No. 36. Following her demise, her sons, Sohel Ali, 29, an army personnel, and Joy Ali, 24, a night guard at a school, accused negligence of being the cause of their mother’s death. However, the intern doctors claimed that the brothers acted aggressively during the incident.
Subsequently, both brothers were apprehended by the police, and the hospital administration filed a case against them. Joy was presented in court after being declared arrested in the case, while Sohel was handed over to the military authorities for actions under military regulations, as informed by Tanvir.
Sohel was permitted to attend his mother’s funeral while in army custody, and Joy was able to join after securing bail. The strike was organized to highlight a four-point demand, including the necessity of mid-level doctors in wards and enhancing safety measures for intern doctors.
Toukir stated, “As the responses from the authorities were favorable, we have opted to end the strike.” Meanwhile, RMCH spokesperson Shankar K Biswas emphasized that the hospital is functioning above its capacity and is reliant on only 262 intern doctors to handle the patient influx. He urged the public to cooperate with the medical staff during these challenging times.
