Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital's resident doctor assaulted by patient's attendant

In another case of an attack on doctors by patient's attendants in a government hospital, the resident doctors at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (RML) were allegedly abused by the family members of a patient on Saturday, after his planned surgery was postponed by them just before the schedule.

A senior resident doctor at the RML hospital confirmed that the surgery was postponed because the patient was stable and another critical patient needed to be operated immediately. The doctor also confirmed that the patient was counseled for this delay but despite that, a mob entered the hospital ward and abused the doctors."If the guards and the bouncers had not intervened, the doctors would have faced physical assault too," he added.

The hospital authorities called the police but by that time the mob of about 20-30 people had already left the hospital. A case in this regard has been filed by the hospital at the North Avenue Police Station. "An FIR has been lodged and investigations are underway. Nobody has been arrested yet," said a senior police official.

Cases of verbal and physical assault against doctors have become common in hospitals. In another case in November, a resident doctor was physically assaulted by a patient and her attendant, after which the Federation of Resident Doctor's Association (FORDA), which includes over 20,000 doctors, had announced an indefinite state-wise strike to demand better security for doctors at all the government hospitals.

The strike, which would have seen a closure of all out-patient departments to demand more guards at the hospitals, was cancelled later after FORDA received an assurance from the Principal Health Secretary that their demands were being looked into.