In yet another appalling incident, a junior resident doctor at Hyderabad’s Gandhi Hospital was attacked by the relatives of a man who had died at the hospital.
The 40-year-old woman had sustained 80% burns and was brought to Gandhi Hospital’s casualty department where doctors examined her and determined that she needed to be admitted into a special ward in view of the extent of her injuries. She succumbed to her injuries around 4 pm on Monday while undergoing treatment at the hospital. Following this, the patient’s relatives, who were upset at her death, barged into the casualty ward at 4.30 pm and began attacking a female house surgeon who was present at the time.
“One of the family members took his helmet and hit the doctor repeatedly on her back and she was injured. She has been given treatment and is stable now,” Vasant Gourani, the Resident Medical Officer (RMO) of Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, told TNM.
A complaint has been lodged with the Chilkalguda police station in Hyderabad against the relatives of the deceased patient under IPC sections 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty).
This has been the latest in a string of incidents of assault against doctors by family members of patients. Earlier on August 28, a doctor from Hyderabad’s Niloufer Hospital was attacked by the relatives of an 11-year-old girl who was brought in to the casualty. Taking cognisance of the attack, the Telangana Junior Doctors Association (TJUDA) spoke out and condemned it.
Earlier last week, the Union Health Ministry had proposed a new legislation to address the issue of violence faced by doctors and other healthcare professionals during such incidents. This came following the brutal attack which claimed the life of a retired doctor from Assam who was providing basic healthcare services to tea estate workers. The attack happened after an estate worker who was brought in critical condition, succumbed during treatment at the hospital.