PUNE: The medical services at the Sassoon general hospital were hampered as 260 resident doctors went on mass leave on Monday to register their protest against the recent spate of attacks on resident doctors in areas such as Dhule, Aurangabad, Nashik and Sion.The resident doctors, all postgraduate students of the B J Medical College, stated in their individual leave applications that they cannot work under such life-threatening conditions.Dean of Sassoon hospital conducted a meeting with the heads of various departments and arranged parallel medical workforce so that patient care remained unaffected throughout the day.Unlike degree students (MBBS) who are involved only in academic work, the resident doctors are pressed into patient care at all levels of medical services from casualty, emergency medicine to intensive care.As per the Bombay high court order, the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) cannot call for a strike, which is why the doctors have gone on leave instead. There is a general belief that the decision of the resident doctors to go on mass leave is the only way that they can register their protest.“It is difficult to render patient care services in current situation where the front line resident doctors are the butt of constant abuse and attacks,” Praveen Gaikwad, a postgraduate student of medicine, said.Gaikwad, however, made it very clear that the MARD, a 4,000-member strong body, has got nothing to do with the mass leave. “The mass leave is a spontaneous reaction of resident doctors across the state,” he added.Yogesh Magar, a postgraduate student of pharmacology, said, “Attacks like these foster a feeling of fear and insecurity. We want to be protected against such attacks, but the approach of the government is little lax towards this core issue.”Suraj Sonawane, a postgraduate student of radiology, said, “Urgent steps need to be initiated to beef up security at government-run medical colleges attached hospitals. The government should expedite pending cases filed against miscreants and there should be stricter enforcement of the Medicare Act.”Sassoon dean Ajay Chandanwale said, “We have adequate number of lecturers and medical workforce to ensure that patient care is not hampered.”In contrast to the hospitals’ claims about the availability of staff, patients and their relatives had a harrowing time on Monday getting the required care.“My 20-year-old son met with an accident in Bhavani Peth around 11am on Monday. When a passerby rushed him to the Sassoon hospital, he had to wait for more than an hour to get the dressing and other first aid,” Raza Shaikh, a senior citizen, said.