MUMBAI:Poor communication and inadequate health budget are the key reasons for the spate of violence against resident doctors , feel public health experts.At a meeting organised by the state Jan Arogya Abhiyan to discuss the state budget on Wednesday , the experts said the government's policies were in a way responsible for the current problems. Resident doctors of city public hospitals are on “mass bunk“ since Tuesday to protest the assault on a Sion hospital 's doctor by a patient's relatives.“These attacks are not problems created by doctors or patients, but an indicator of problems with the system,“ said Dr Abhay Shukla, a public health expert.“With inadequate health budgets, there is a crunch in resources, staff and medicines as far as the patient is concerned.“ Dr Sagar Mundada, who heads the youth wing of the Indian Medical Association's city wing, said the state is responsible for driving a wedge between doctors and patients. He added that there aren't enough doctors and staff to help patients with blood tests or CT scans. “Patients have to buy medicines though they are supposed to get them free.“Mentioning a grievance redressal mechanism operational in Thailand's hospitals to reduce doctor-patient skirmishes, Dr Shukla said, “Every hospital has to provide a room to NGOs to aid patient-doctor dialogue. Any patient or a relative can go to these NGO representatives for help in communicating with doctors.“Mumbai Citizens Doctors Forum's Jitendra Tandel, a kidney failure patient, said he has visited several public hospitals for dialysis over last 12 years and found doctors disrespectful towards patients. “I would say 90% of the patients feel humiliated and have anger towards medical staff. All work has to be done by relatives, be it finding a stretcher to moving the patient from one department to another. Clearly , the state has to reduce the load on medical staff and improve services in its hospitals.“