Attendants of patient, DDC member manhandle doctors at CD Hospital

Doctors go on strike, seek stern action

Irfan Tramboo

Srinagar, June 8: The doctors at Chest Disease Hospital were mishandled by the attendants of one of the patients accompanied by a District Development Council (DDC) member from Srinagar and his security guards leading to strike by the medicos.
Following the incident, the doctors of the hospital have gone on a strike to protest the incident and are demanding stern action against those involved in the incident, particularly, the DDC Member from Harwan Constituency, Shabir Ahmad Reshi belonging to J&K Apni Party.
As of now, the doctors have boycotted the non-emergency services at the hospital which has put the patients reaching the hospital from various parts of Kashmir to great inconvenience; however, the emergency services are currently on.
“On Tuesday, a female patient who was sick was brought into the causality ward of the hospital where the doctors attended to the patient and resuscitated her; when her condition improved, the attendants insisted on taking her to the washroom which was not allowed by the doctors keeping in view her condition,” Dr. Naveed Nazir Shah HoD of the concerned Department at CD told Excelsior.
He said that the attendants did not listen to the doctors and took the patient-in her mid-30s, suffering from prolonged tuberculosis-to the washroom, where, he said, her condition deteriorated again.
“When the patient was brought back again and when the doctors tried to revive the patient, the attendants resorted to vandalism, disrupted everything, and by then the patent died; the lady doctors were pushed and dragged around even as the staff was locked inside their room,” he said.
The doctors who were present when the incident happened said that when the verbal altercation was going on, one person, who is said to be a DDC member and was escorted by personal security guards got into the ward and did the rest, which includes clicking the pictures of the staff present there and threatening them.
“The staff members were thrashed, manhandled, pushed around and also did not allow the doctors to perform their duties,” the doctors said.
Another doctor told Excelsior that they tried to resuscitate the patient when she was brought back, “but attendants interfered and didn’t allow doctors to perform their duties.”
He said that they had another person with them who was roaming around along with security. “He threatened doctors and even have pointed weapons at doctors.”
While the incident disturbed the functioning of the hospital, the attendants, in a bid not to leave behind any traces for identification, have taken away all the medical records of the patient.
Meanwhile, the police have registered a case under IPC section 353, 354 of IPC and the necessary investigation has been set in motion.
The doctors who continue to be on strike demand stern action against those involved and assurance from the authorities that such incidents will not be repeated in the future.