Junior doctors’ strike took a new turn on Friday as the they and house surgeons boycotted the emergency medical services from 5 pm.

Every day, 60 junior doctors attend the emergency medical services in casualty, acute surgical care, intensive care unit, intensive cardiac care unit and gynecology department from 2 pm to 8 am the next day in the governemnt general hospital.

In all, 200 junior doctors and 100 house surgeons in Vijayawada are on strike for the last 37 days. They stopped attending regular duties from 8 am to 2 pm as part of their state-wide strike demanding the government to solve their problems. Only 60 junior doctors used to attend the emergency services from 2 pm to 8 am till Friday.

Junior doctors waited till evening for the response from the government on addressing their problems. As per their announcement, the junior doctors boycotted the emergency services too.

Consequently, only 20 regular doctors are attending the emergency services in the government hospital since Friday evening. The doctors attend not less than 60 emergency cases daily. Now, with the strike of junior doctors, only 20 regular doctors have to manage the duty of 80 doctors.

Junior doctors association secretary Dr Hari Kiran has criticised the government for having no intension to solving their problems.

He said, “We attended the emergency cases on humanitarian grounds till Friday, but the government seems not ready to solve our problems.”

Accident victims, cardiac patients and pregnant women will suffer more with the boycott of emergency services by junior doctors at the government hospital.

The central committee of junior doctors held discussions several times with the government in Hyderabad asking the latter to concede their main demand of increasing stipend with regular payment every month. But, there is no response from the government.