Gandhi hospital Hyderabad on duty 1st year PG medico assaulted by patient's attendant, doctors protest

Hyderabad: In a recent incident of violence against medical professionals, an on-duty first-year PG junior resident from the General Medicine department at Gandhi Hospital was allegedly assaulted by a patient attendant.

The alleged assault led to massive protests by other doctors at the hospital who threatened to derail normal medical services in the top State-run Tertiary Hospital on Monday.

Explaining the situation, another PG doctor who was present during the incident told Deccan Chronicle, "The altercation began when a female attendant repeatedly approached doctors to check her mother’s glucose levels because the patient wanted to eat a cookie. The attendant is alleging that PG doctors are touching patients. How can doctors, irrespective of gender, avoid touching patients while examining them? Bring in such technologies if that is possible."

"The attendant was recording videos, but initially, we ignored it. One of our PGs checked the glucose levels three times and informed her. However, she again came while recording videos. Our PG then took her mobile phone and handed it over to the nurse after repeatedly asking her not to record videos inside the ward. As he took the phone, she slapped him so hard that his spectacles broke and he sustained scratches on his head,” the doctor alleged.

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Following this, the doctor reportedly approached the police and registered a case against the attendants. However, the ward where the incident took place has no CCTV cameras installed. 

The alleged attack has drawn criticism from medical associations, including Telangana Senior Resident Doctors Association (T-SRDA) and Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association (HRDA). 

They have demanded strong hospital security systems across all government hospitals, installation and monitoring of adequate CCTV surveillance systems, deployment of sufficient trained security personnel in casualty and high-risk areas, immediate response mechanisms during incidents of violence inside hospitals, fast-track investigation and strict prosecution of offenders involved in attacks on healthcare workers and safety and dignity of doctors while discharging emergency medical duties.

Both the associations strongly condemned the unfortunate, allegedly physical assault on a junior doctor at the hospital and said, Doctors, especially junior doctors and resident doctors, work tirelessly under physically and emotionally demanding conditions to provide continuous patient care, often in overcrowded government healthcare setups with limited resources. 

"Any act of violence against healthcare workers not only endangers the safety and morale of doctors but also disrupts patient care services and creates an atmosphere of fear within hospitals," T-SRDA mentioned in their press release.

"Assaulting a doctor inside a hospital not only endangers the safety and dignity of healthcare workers but also negatively impacts healthcare delivery and creates an atmosphere of fear and insecurity within medical institutions,"  HRDA said. 

The associations urged the Government and law enforcement authorities to ensure strict implementation of the existing “Telangana Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act, 2008” which protects healthcare workers and medical institutions against violence and property damage. Under the Act, violence against healthcare workers is prohibited, and offences are classified as cognizable and non-bailable with imprisonment and penalties against offenders.

Speaking to Medical Dialogues, Dr Ashish Ankem, TSRDA President, said, "The female attendant of the patient started recording a video of the patient in the ICU which was confronted by the duty PGs. For this, she started creating a scene and narrating entirely opposite that the PGS have attacked her and snatched her phone away."

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