Doctor manhandled at AIIMS trauma centre
The doctor on duty was attending to a high-risk patient when the attendants asked him to attend their patient on priority basis.
New Delhi: A junior resident doctor at the emergency ward of the AIIMS Trauma Centre was allegedly verbally abused and manhandled by the attendants of a patient late on Sunday night, following which his colleagues at the premier institute have gone on a strike withdrawing all non-essential services till Tuesday morning.
The AIIMS Resident Doctor’s Association (RDA) said services at outpatient departments (OPDs) and routine operation theatre, and ward visits have been withdrawn from Monday noon till 6.00 am on Tuesday. However, emergency services such as ICU, casualty, and labour room services are available.
This comes against the backdrop of the medical fraternity holding protests all over the country in solidarity with the junior doctors in West Bengal, who are on a strike since Tuesday after two of their colleagues were attacked and seriously injured allegedly by relatives of a patient who died at NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
The incident took place around 11.30 pm on Sunday in the emergency ward of the AIIMS Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre when a patient with a foot injury reached there for treatment, the president of AIIMS RDA, Dr Amarinder Singh Malhi, said.
“The patient arrived with his attendants. The doctor on duty was attending to a high-risk patient when the attendants asked him to attend their patient on priority basis. He asked them to wait for a while. However, the attendants started verbally abusing the doctor and even manhandled him,” Dr Singh claimed.
“The medico at the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre was allegedly assaulted for giving preferential care to a critical patient,” the RDA said in a statement and demanded enactment of a comprehensive Central law for checking violence on doctors and healthcare staff at hospitals.
The police said a case has been registered after the AIIMS doctors filed a complaint. According to a senior police official, two persons have been detained for allegedly misbehaving and abusing the doctor while the third accused is absconding.