• The doctors decided to return to work after pressure from the general public

Pokhara, April 23

Manipal Teaching Hospital is finally going to begin providing all its medical services from tomorrow in response to mounting pressure from the general public following the Kagbeni accident.

The agitating doctors and hospital administration were criticised for the hospital’s failure to treat patients who had been injured in a bus accident in Kagbeni yesterday.

As many as five people had died when a bus carrying  pilgrims to Mustang met with an accident near Kagbeni of Mustang  district, while 15 others were critically injured. The injured had been airlifted to Manipal Hospital in Pokhara for treatment, but the hospital could not treat them due to the doctors’ strike. The patients were later taken to other hospitals in Pokhara.

Following the incident, the local Fulbari Club had padlocked the hospital’s main gate yesterday.

Human Resource Manager and Administrative Chief at the hospital Bhanu Bharadwaj said, “We held a meeting with the locals, the agitating doctors, and the college administration and reached understanding. We will be resuming all health services effective from tomorrow.”

Doctors in Manipal have been agitating for the last two months, demanding that those who had served at the hospital for more than 240 days be given permanent status, that their remuneration be increased, and that they be granted leave in lieu of any public holiday on which they work. All academic and health services came to a grinding halt for more than two months after the doctors began their strike. The meeting was held with the initiative of the National Heritage and People’s Rights Conservation Committee and Civil Society Pokhara at the hospital, said spokesperson of civil society Thakur Prasad Baral.

“Both doctors and the hospital management expressed regret over yesterday’s incident, and pledged to be highly sensitive to the need to deliver health service without any obstruction,” said Fulbari Club Chairperson Harishchandra Bastola.

Coordinator of the committee of the agitating doctors Deepak Koirala said that yesterday’s incident brought the agitating doctors and the administration on the same table and resolved the prolonged rift. “The administration has verbally vowed to fulfil most of our demands,” said Koirala.

Chief Executive Officer of Manipal Hospital Dr BM Nagpal said that they were ready to implement all rules provisioned by the Government of Nepal. He said that the hospital had not been able to provide free health service to Nepalis retired from the Indian Army due to the strike.

Meanwhile, Nepal Medical Council has sought clarification from doctors who were on call at the emergency department when the injured from the Kagbeni accident had been brought in regarding their refusal to provide treatment yesterday. The council has written to the hospital administration seeking details of doctors, including their names and their council registration number.

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• 15 injured airlifted from Mustang, Manipal provides no treatment
• 5 killed as bus with Muktinath pilgrims meets with accident