As per a recent media report in the Hindustan Times, the AIIMS administration issued a show-cause notice to one of the assistant professors in the Department of Gastroenterology on 13th March after complaints alleging that the doctor was involved in private practice was moved with the authorities.
However, the doctor refused to accept the allegations of unethical practices and laxity in work and condemned the administration for bringing a selective attack on him.
To mention, AIIMS doctors are barred from private practice as they get Non-Practicing Allowance (NPA) which contributed to 20% of their basic salary. Following the same, the institution has been active in identifying doctors who have continued their private practice despite accepting NPA.
The doctor stated that he was associated with practice privately before joining the AIIMS-Patna as an assistant professor on August 3, 2018. "The private clinic, where I used to practice, is currently run by my sister-in-law and I am not associated with it anymore," he said.
Hindustan Times reports that a committee of senior faculty members asked the doctor to appear before them after the director convened a meeting but the doctor failed to appear.
The direction had come following the complaint against the doctor by the head of the department of gastroenterology, who in his complaint mentioned about the alleged misconduct of the doctor and also stated that he was exercising a negative impact on the institute's work culture because of his late coming and reluctance to accept responsibility.
Commenting on his disappearance from the meeting, the doctor told Hindustan Times, " I was communicated about the meeting, convened at a short notice, through e-mail, which I could not check-in time. However, I responded to the show-cause notice in around 30 hours of having received it, denying all the charges levelled against me."
The gastroenterologist also alleged that some of the doctors who were continuing their private practice have already left the institute. However, there are still some medical professionals who are continuing to unethically engage in private practice.
According to the daily, the doctor further claimed that he has evidenced against a few of the doctors as he got hold of their private prescriptions and admission by patients who used to consult them earlier. He did not reveal any of the doctor's names though.
"There are some doctors who do not even come to the institute regularly. All such suspects should have been issued show-cause notices. I have been selectively targeted because someone's ego has been hurt as I do not pander to the powers that be. I diligently go for duty every working day at around 10 am (the OPD registration is from 8 am to 2 pm)," the doctor told HT.
The doctor had earlier submitted his resignation during the COVID-19 pandemic in July, last year, but took back his resignation after a month. The doctor stated that his friend advised him to complete 3 years as an assistant professor in the institute as it would make him eligible to apply as an associate professor in a government medical college sometime later.
"I'll resign again on May 2 or 3 so that by the time I serve my three months' notice period, I complete my term of three years as an assistant professor," the doctor added.
Commenting on the incident, Dr Prabhat Kumar Singh, AIIMS-Patna Director told the daily, "We have issued a show-cause notice to the doctor because he is not very regular in work. He didn't even come for the meeting, which I convened recently. We will first try and counsel and then see what is to be done about him."
On the issue of private practice by the doctor, Singh added, " This is a sweeping allegation. I don't deny the fact that there may be 3 or 5 doctors at our institute who indulge in private practice, but I'm determined to weed them out. We will act against them as soon as we get any complaint or an iota of evidence. I will not allow the AIIMS work culture to suffer and our image dented."
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