Intern doctors at Osmani Hospital call off work stoppage

Mohammad Sadiq, an intern doctor, says they will return to work from Monday morning

Intern doctors at Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital have announced they will call off their work stoppage after receiving assurances that their demands will be met.

After a meeting with the hospital authorities on Sunday afternoon, intern Mohammad Sadiq said that the protesting interns will rejoin work from Monday morning.

On Friday night, an altercation broke out between intern doctors and patients and their relatives at Surgery Ward No. 4 on the hospital’s fourth floor. The dispute later escalated into a clash, leaving at least five people injured, including a female doctor. Police arrived at the scene and brought the situation under control.

After the work stoppage began, senior hospital officials, including the director, held a meeting with the protesting intern doctors on Saturday. Following nearly an hour of discussion, the intern doctors announced that they would continue their strike.

The strike continued into Sunday, leading to suffering for patients. Police have arrested three people in connection with the violence and the vandalism.

Director Brig Gen Umar Rashed Munir held another meeting with the intern doctors on Sunday afternoon. In the hour-long meeting, the director assured them Ansar personnel would ensure security at the hospital premises.

In addition, the intern doctors presented their demands to the hospital authorities on a total of eight issues.

After the meeting, intern doctor Sadiq said: "We launched the strike demanding security at the workplace. We are withdrawing the strike as the authorities have assured our demands will be fulfilled. However, in consideration of the matter of mental preparation, we will rejoin work from 8am on Monday."

Brig Gen Munir told reporters: “The interns have withdrawn the strike after we accepted their demands. We will also give their security the highest priority. In the meantime, a decision has been made to deploy Ansar personnel around the clock in various sensitive areas of the hospital.”