HYDERABAD: The Government Chest Hospital staff boycotted all hospital duties until noon on Monday, July 26, 2021, to protest the alleged attack on a second-year PG doctor on Sunday afternoon. The students have submitted a five-point representation to the Superintendent of the hospital demanding the setting up of CCTV cameras across all 12 wards of the hospital for the safety of doctors. They also demanded that the hospital put a curb on the number of attendants allowed per patient. The boycott of duties ended after the Superintendent gave a written assurance.
“We had five representations in the morning, of which two were resolved, which is to file FIR on behalf of the hospital and to file the complaint under Epidemic Act for more stringent punishments as the doctor was attacked while on Covid-19 duty,” said Dr Sameena, Joint Secretary, Telangana Junior Doctors Association (T-JUDA). The doctors also demanded that counsellors be appointed in the hospital who can convey the status of the patients to their families.
This is the fourth such attack in the last year on doctors. Currently, only Gandhi, Osmania General and Niloufer hospitals have been given police protection, which has been a long-standing demand of the doctors. Meanwhile, the Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association (HRDA) asked the Telangana DGP to immediately fill up 164 posts on Special Protection Force (SPF) for hospitals that were sanctioned under GO 103 by the Finance Department.
Cops arrest three
SR Nagar police on Monday held three people in connection with the assault on a doctor at the Government Chest Hospital in Erragadda on Sunday afternoon. The arrested Mohd Jilani, Mohd Sarvar and Shaik Basith are relatives of the patient, while four others involved are absconding.