Hospital lapse: GB Pant website continues to name late cardiologist as HoD two years after his suicide

New Delhi: In a shocking revelation amid the ongoing issue over excessive working hours at GB Pant Hospital, the official website of the hospital still lists Dr Saibal Mukhopadhyay, the former Head of the Cardiology Department, who died by suicide two years ago, as the current HoD.

On the hospital's website, the name and contact information of Dr. Mukhopadhyay are still being displayed against the post of Professor and Head of the Cardiology Department.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported about the unfortunate demise of Dr. Mukhopadhyay, who had committed suicide back in 2023 by jumping off from a high floor of his apartment building in east Delhi's Mayur Vihar area. Back then, the police had informed that the doctor had left a suicide note in which he took responsibility for his death.

Also Read: Unfortunate: Senior Cardiologist, HOD at GB Pant Hospital commits suicide

Since then, two years have passed, and currently, Dr Jamal Yusuf is heading the department. However, the official website of the hospital has not been updated, as Dr. Mukhopadhyay's name is still being shown as the HoD, and his contact information is also available to the public.

Commenting on the matter, Health Activist Dr Vishnu Rajgadia told Medical Dialogues, "The first name listed in the Cardiology Department page on the GB Pant Hospital website is of Dr. Saibal Mukhopadhyay, who is mentioned as the HoD. However, he committed suicide in Mayur Vihar in October 2023."

Dr. Rajgadia also referred to the recent incident where Dr. Amit Kumar, a first-year DM Cardiology resident, resigned after burnout from prolonged working hours and added, "It clearly shows that it doesn't matter to the hospital authorities if one of their doctors commits suicide, resigns, or falls into depression."

Also Read: GB Pant 1st year DM Cardiology resignation exposes harsh realities of endless duties

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the duty hours issue came to light after Dr. Rishu Sinha, the wife of Dr. Kumar, wrote to the Cardiology Department of the hospital and asked to provide a cooling period and arrange counselling for her husband, who took the extreme step of resigning from a dream job- a superspeciality course of cardiology, primarily due to excessive work pressure and duty hours.

After the matter arose, and members of the medical fraternity started expressing concern over it, the hospital decided to set up a committee to look into the matter. Further, this Enquiry Committee will also examine the duty hour norms for the JRs, SRs, PGs, MCh/DMs.

HoD Cardiology Assures Reasonable Working Hours to Dr. Kumar:

Meanwhile, assuring to offer relief to Dr. Kumar, the HoD of the Cardiology Department of GB Pant Hospital, Dr. Jamal Yusuf, has assured to grant an eight-hour duty roster to Dr. Amit Kumar. He has also suggested to Dr. Kumar to write to the hospital authorities and withdraw his resignation.

Informing about this update, Dr. Kumar's wife, Dr. Rishu Sinha, wrote on X, "Dr. Jamal Yusuf, Cardiology Director at GB Pant Hospital, Delhi, called us today. He agreed to Dr. Amit's regular eight-hour duty and asked us to withdraw our resignation, which he will do tomorrow. Thank you to everyone. We simply want medical students protected from depression, seat-living, and suicide."

Speaking to Medical Dialogues, Dr. Rishu Sinha said, "We met with Dr. Jamal Yusuf today, and he has assured that a reasonable 8-hour duty will be allotted to my husband. Hopefully, he will get his duty roster tomorrow."

Also Read: GB Pant hospital forms committee to probe inhumane duty hour allegations