BHOPAL: Resident doctors at Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital (SGMH) in Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh stopped work in protest after attendants of a patient allegedly assaulted doctors, including women doctors, at the surgical intensive care unit (ICU) late on Wednesday.
The incident comes days after the death of a young mother, Kalpana Mishra, and her newborn during treatment at the government hospital. The latest incident occurred at the surgical ICU on the second floor of the hospital building late on Wednesday night.
A patient, Bharati Sharan, is on ventilator support in the surgical ICU following a critical surgery on September 7. Her condition is reported to be serious.
According to resident doctors, three to four attendants of the patient entered the surgical ICU late on Wednesday night and attempted to resuscitate her on their own. When the doctors on duty intervened, the attendants allegedly assaulted them, including female doctors.
Following the incident, resident doctors boycotted routine and emergency services and began protesting late on Wednesday night.
“We’ve been regularly facing misbehaviour by attendants of patients, particularly as the flow of attendants continues inside the hospital premises unrestricted. At many times, the attendants in drunk state have come to the hospital and misbehaved with us. We’re not going to tolerate it anymore. Last night our female colleagues were attacked by the attendants of a patient, who is already in critical state. Our doctors are working 24x7 on the concerned patient, but still the attendants assaulted our colleagues at the surgical ICU on the second floor, leaving us with no option but to raise our voices by stopping routine and emergency services,” resident doctors Dr. Siddharth Jain and Dr. Rahul Manjhi said.
After being informed about the agitation, senior hospital officials, the Rewa district administration and the police reached the hospital and held talks with the protesting doctors.
The agitation ended on Thursday afternoon after the administration and police agreed to put in place additional security measures inside the hospital, including restricting the number of attendants to one per patient.
It was also decided that entry of attendants into intensive care units would be allowed only on the basis of valid gate passes. Videography inside the hospital premises would also be regulated.