Several doctors, associated with private hospitals, have joined the ongoing protest by government hospital doctors, while demanding safe working environment in Delhi.
Doctors at many government hospitals resumed services, while doctors at AIIMS were working with helmets on for the third consecutive day. Safdarjung Hospital resident doctors took a casual leave to support their Mumbai counterparts, while doctors at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital, Lok Nayak were seen sporting black bandanas.
On Friday, leading private hospitals', including Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, expressed their solidarity for the protest and partially suspended operations.
Though emergency services were not affected due to the strike, the functioning of out-patient departments and other services were hit with doctors abstaining from work.
Fortis and Apollo Hospitals too extended their support to the movement. Fortis Hospital management stated: "Our doctors continuously strive to save and enrich lives. We strongly condemn the act of violence against doctors and other hospital staff. Safe and secure work environment is the basic requirement for caregivers to provide best possible medical care to patients. We at Fortis Healthcare are firmly committed to our patients and our medical services remain unhampered."
The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) on Friday sought a meeting with the Prime Minister to ask for a solution to the rising number of attacks on them. FORDA said that the Bombay High Court giving an option to state-run hospitals to terminate the services of the striking doctors "brought down their morale".