Mumbai: Around 400 residents doctors of the state-run JJ Hospital went on a ‘mass bunk’ on Sunday as well and have threatened to intensify their protest after four irate relatives of a 45-year-old female cancer patient assaulted two resident doctors, including a female, and ransacked the ward early on Saturday. The doctors had stayed away from work on Saturday too. The doctors have sought round-the-clock security guards in every ward as well as the crowded zones in the hospital and not just at the entrance.
The agitating doctors held a meeting with the JJ Hospital dean, Dr Sudhir Nanandkar and Dr Prakash Wakode, joint director Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), to press for the demands. The meeting was allegedly not fruitful, the resident doctors claimed.
Dr Sarang Donarkar, president of J.J hospital, Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) said, “The resident doctors are scared to work after the Saturday incident. Almost all medicos are in a state of panic and afraid to work under such dangerous conditions.” He added, “We had a meeting with the Dean and the DMER, which was not fruitful, as no written assurances were given by them. Verbal assurances are not the solution. The matter is of serious concern for doctors. We wont resume on duty unless our demands are fulfilled. We need appropriate security measures, which are due for over two years and were suppose to have been implemented immediately.”
The incident took place in the surgery ward where a patient named Zaida Sanaullah Sheikh (45), a Mumbra resident, who was being treated for a gall bladder ailment, died. “It was a sudden death and there was no medical negligence by the doctor. But both doctors have sustained minor fractures, for which medication was given immediately,” said the Dean Dr S. Nanandkar.
The family members alleged that Shaikh’s death was due to negligence on the doctors’ part, and beat up Dr Atish Parikh and Dr Shamali Dharmadhikari, who were on duty. The attackers also assaulted the relative of one of the patients who tried to intervene and a nurse.
