Intern doctors strike at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital over five demands, citing threats and a lack of security

Intern doctors at Rajshahi Medical College (RAMEC) Hospital have begun a work abstention pressing five demands. The programme started on Wednesday morning (21 October), and its leaders say the strike will continue until the demands are met.

The Intern Doctors Society announced the abstention on Tuesday night (20 October). Because intern doctors carry a large share of the day-to-day care in the admission wards, the decision has created fresh uncertainty over services in those wards.

According to the organisation's leaders, the hospital's wards face an acute shortage of necessary medicines and medical supplies. They say the shortages repeatedly leave them struggling to treat patients with what is available.

They also say the unrestricted entry of patients' relatives and negligence by Ansar members on duty regularly expose intern doctors to unwanted situations and mob threats. Weak crowd control and weak security inside the wards are, in their account, behind these incidents.

They allege that several intern doctors have already received death threats. In one case, a female intern doctor had to leave her ward in plain clothes for her own safety in the face of threats from a patient's relatives—an incident the protesters cite as the clearest proof of their insecurity.

In addition, with the hospital's observation room and casualty department not in operation, extra patient pressure has built up in the admission wards. The interns say they are struggling to serve patients with limited manpower and limited medical supplies.

They say the hospital authorities have given assurances about solving these problems several times, but no effective step has been taken so far. The strike decision, the organisation says, grew out of long-accumulated dissatisfaction and insecurity.

The first of the five demands is to ensure an adequate supply of medicines and necessary medical equipment in the admission wards. The second is to ensure the overall security of the intern doctors on duty.

The third demand is to enforce the rule allowing at most two relatives to enter the hospital with one patient. The fourth is to ensure the active presence of Ansar members in all relevant wards on the day of a patient's admission and the following day. The fifth is to start the hospital's casualty department without delay.

Dr S M Topu, president of the Intern Doctors Society, said: 'We were forced to take the decision to abstain from work. The strike will run from Wednesday morning (21 October). There is a serious lack of security. Our other demands are also reasonable. Only if the demands are met will we return to duty.'

Attempts were made to contact RAMEC Hospital spokesperson Dr Sheikh Shamim Ahmed for comment, but he could not be reached. The hospital authorities' formal position on the strike is therefore still unknown.

All eyes are now on the hospital authorities—how quickly services return to normal will depend on whether they sit down with the intern doctors and what they decide about the five demands.