Kerala surgeon served memo, stripped off charge for unauthorised absence

A day after a surgeon with the General Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram took unauthorised leave, the Health Minister’s Office on Saturday has initiated action against him.
Image used for representational purpose.
Image used for representational purpose.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after a surgeon with the General Hospital (GH), Thiruvananthapuram took unauthorised leave, resulting in the cancellation of surgeries, the Health Minister’s Office on Saturday has initiated action against him. The intervention follows after the surgeon’s absence created hardships to a number of patients including women and children. In a statement released here, the Minister’s Office said the surgeon has not only been stripped off from the charge as unit head, a memo has also been served against him for taking unsanctioned leave. 

“The surgeon’s unauthorised leave and cancellation of surgeries at the hospital is being considered seriously by the government. A directive has already been issued to the Health Secretary to inquire into the incident and to submit a report. On the basis of the same, if necessary, further action will be initiated against the surgeon,” reads a statement from the  Health Minister’s Office. 

Meanwhile, the General Hospital Superintendent has handover a preliminary enquiry report to the Health Secretary. The report mentions the same surgeon had taken unauthorised leave earlier too and the same was reported to the Health Department. 

It was on Friday some surgeries at the GH got cancelled after the surgeon keep away from duty. According to the hospital authorities, surgeries of around eight patients, including three women and one child, had to be cancelled due to the absence of the surgeon. Meanwhile, Health Minister K K Shylaja said though the surgeries to be performed were not of emergency nature, the hospital authorities have been asked to consider this as a special case and to conduct surgeries in a time-bound manner. 

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