Female doctor assaulted by patient, kin at Sion Hospital

Mumbai: In a shocking incident, an on-duty female resident doctor at the civic-run Sion Hospital, Mumbai was allegedly assaulted and threatened by a patient and a group of 7-8 attendants who were in an intoxicated state.  

According to the police, the patient and his family started verbally abusing the on-duty doctor while she was examining the patient, who had arrived at the hospital with facial injuries. Initially, they started abusing the doctor but the situation quickly escalated to threats and physical assault against her. As a result, the doctor sustained injuries while defending herself.  

In response to the incident, the police have booked three persons, including two women and a man. Among them, two accused have been detained and both are women. 

Also read- Uttarakhand Horror: Nurse sexually assaulted, murdered on way home from Hospital

The incident took place on Sunday at around 3:45 PM in Ward 3 of Sion Hospital when a patient, who was intoxicated and had facial injuries came to the hospital. While the female doctor was cleaning blood from the ear of the patient, he began screaming in pain and shouting insults at the female doctor. 

Following this, the drunken relatives approached the doctor and began verbally abusing her later leading to physical assault. When the hospital staff called the security personnel, the patient and the relative fled away.  

This incident comes amid nationwide outrage and protests over the safety of doctors after a female postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata was allegedly raped and murdered on August 9.

Speaking to ANI, Dr Akshya More, General Secretary of Sion-Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) and BMC-MARD said, "The patient arrived in casualty after midnight in an intoxicated state with 7-8 relatives. He was involved in an assault before he came to the hospital, and had injury marks on his face. Owing to his injuries, he was given an ENT reference around 3:30 am. Our on-call resident doctor in the ENT department was a female."

"Following a routine procedure, she undressed the wounds to examine them. That is when the patient started verbally abusing her. The relatives, instead of controlling the patient, started verbally abusing the resident doctor. Things escalated to physical assault very quickly," said the doctor.

Adding further, he said, "Nurses intervened but by then the doctor had sustained abrasions on her hands. By the time security was called, the patient and the relatives had fled. Such incidents are very frequent and mostly go unreported but we could not let this one slide, especially after what happened in Kolkata."

Based on the statement of the female doctor, Sion Police Station of Mumbai registered a case of misbehaviour and assault.

The Sion police registered a case under sections 115(2), 352, 3(5) and 3,4 of the BNS and the Maharashtra Medical Services and Medical Services Institutions (Prevention of Violent Acts and Loss or Damage to Property) Act, 2010.

In a statement concerning the incident, Sion Hospital said, “There has been an incidence of violence in Sion Hospital that occurred early this morning involving one of the on-call residents in the ward. A group of 5-6 intoxicated patient attendants threatened and attempted to physically assault her. She also sustained injuries while defending herself.” Terming the assault “alarming”, the statement said their doctors’ safety is “non-negotiable”. “This situation requires immediate attention and the implementation of strict security measures in all hospitals,” it added.

Medical Dialogues recently reported that the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued several directions to the Heads of all Central Government Hospitals/Institutes to ensure the safety and security of doctors and healthcare workers.

These measures, recommended by the Ministry, include installing sufficient numbers of High-resolution CCTV cameras, employing adequate number of well-trained security guards, setting up control rooms at the institutes, identification badges for staff, patients, visitors, restricting access to certain areas, identifying dark spots in the campus, well-secured duty rooms with basic amenities etc.

Further, the Ministry has recommended that lady health professionals should be deployed at night, preferably in more than one number and they should be escorted to premises while on duty and arrangements should be made for their transport or movement at night as well.

Also read- CCTV Cameras, Control Room, Security Guards: Health Ministry Issues measures for Central Hospitals, AIIMS, INIs to Ensure Safety of Doctors, Health Workers