Following the death of a 55-year-old COVID patient in Telangana's Gandhi hospital on Tuesday, attendees of the deceased patient barged into the hospital and attacked a doctor on duty.
"They destroyed the plastic chairs and attacked the doctor on duty with an iron stool. He blocked the attack but was hit on his hip. Other doctors and nurses rushed to their safety and informed the police," said a doctor who is protesting amongst many others against the attack on a fellow doctor.
More than 300 PG doctors treating the COVID-19 patients at Gandhi Hospital refuse to resume their duties unless their demands are met by the government. The state health minister's office approached the protesting doctors for a negotiation so that they can resume their covid duties. The doctors refuse to get back to their duties unless the minister comes to visit the doctors to get to know the ground reality.
According to a doctor who is protesting against this brutal act the deceased 55-year-old male patient was admitted at the Gandhi Hospital with mild respiratory failure in the AMC (acute medical ward). His poor prognosis was explained to his family members. Despite his conditions, he went to the washroom by removing his CPAP mask and suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away at around 7.30 pm on Tuesday, in-spite of resuscitation. Enraged by the death, the patient attendees attacked a PG doctor on duty.
" This is the second attack on doctors in Gandhi Hospital. We decided not to protest after considering the pandemic situation and the assurance we received by the police and the government. We cannot keep silent this time," said Dr Lohith, President of Gandhi Junior Doctors Association in Hyderabad.
On April 1st, relatives of a COVID-19 patient who died due to comorbidities attacked a doctor in the isolation ward of the Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad.
" We demand SPF for all doctors at all emergencies as assured earlier by the government. We want decentralization of the covid cases from Gandhi Hospital to all other hospitals like other states. The hospital is not following the ICMR guidelines and there needs to be a sense of transparency over the actions taken for such similar incidents that happened in the past through media. Unless our demands are met by the CM and the health minister, we will not resume our covid duties," said Dr Lohith.