Thiruvananthapuram: Doctors boycott Outpatient services in protest against assault

Thiruvananthapuram: Outpatient services in government hospitals and health centres in Thiruvananthapuram district came to a grinding halt on Tuesday following a one-hour flash strike called by the doctors associations in protest against the assault on a lady doctor at Pallikkal community health centre.

The doctors boycotted outpatient services for an hour and staged a protest in their respective institutions. The doctors alleged that the husband and son of a woman patient had assaulted the lady doctor on Saturday. The family members of the patient got infuriated when she was referred to another hospital for surgery.

The patient had come with complaint of a boil which was to be removed through a surgical procedure. Indian Medical Association and Kerala Government Medical College Association KGMOA condemned the incident. The KGMOA and IMA leaders said that such incidents were unacceptable in a civilised society.

"Assaulting doctors who perform life saving duties is highly condemnable. Doctors do not deserve such violent attacks. Such incidents are totally unacceptable to us. We have urged the government to take stringent action against the culprits . If they fail to do so we will be forced to take drastic measures including strong agitation ," said Dr N Sulphi IMA state secretary .

The IMA and KGMOA also threatened to launch a state wide agitation if doctors are not protected from such violent attacks by relatives and bystanders of patients.