Niloufer Junior Doctors Continue Boycott, Demand Arrest of Attendant
Junior doctors, who were awaiting a response from the hospital superintendent and the filing of a police complaint, staged a protest and boycotted services on Monday after no action was taken.
Hyderabad: Within days of the alleged assault on a postgraduate resident doctor at Gandhi hospital, another attack on a doctor was reported at Niloufer hospital on Saturday night, triggering outrage among medical associations and renewed demands for stronger security measures in government hospitals.
Junior doctors, who were awaiting a response from the hospital superintendent and the filing of a police complaint, staged a protest and boycotted services on Monday after no action was taken.
They warned that the protest would continue on Tuesday and that junior doctors from Osmania general hospital and Gandhi hospital would join them if the accused attendant is not arrested.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, junior resident doctor Konda Reddy of Niloufer hospital said, “We waited 24 hours for the superintendent to respond, but there was no action, so we began our protest. There are CCTV cameras in the hospital, but only around 30 per cent are functional, and cameras at key locations are not working. Officials have sought 48 hours to repair them. Around 100 doctors joined the protest today, and many more will join tomorrow. If the culprit is arrested, we will withdraw the protest.”
The doctors also alleged that the Nampally police registered a case only on Monday afternoon after sustained pressure from them.
According to doctors’ associations, a second-year postgraduate resident doctor working in the respiratory intensive care unit (RICU) at Niloufer hospital was allegedly assaulted by attendants of a child patient, while performing his duties.
The incident occurred after a child, who had earlier been shifted from the RICU to an isolation ward following improvement in health, began crying excessively. Doctors said the duty doctor reassessed the child and, despite only minimal distress, shifted the patient back to the RICU for closer monitoring as a precautionary measure.
As per ICU protocols, the resident doctor reportedly requested attendants to leave the restricted critical-care area, allowing only the child’s mother to remain. However, instead of complying with the instructions, the attendants allegedly assaulted the doctor.
Medical associations noted that intensive care units are highly restricted zones where unnecessary movement of attendants can compromise sterility, increase the risk of infections and endanger critically ill patients.
Condemning the incident, the healthcare reforms doctors’ association, Telangana, Telangana senior resident doctors’ association and Telangana junior doctors’ association demanded the immediate arrest of those involved and strict legal action under laws protecting healthcare workers.
