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A junior doctor at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Hospital in Telangana's Warangal was attacked by relatives of a female patient who was admitted in the emergency block due to severe injury in her leg.
Nearly 300 junior doctors and interns have been on strike since Saturday midnight, protesting against the attack on their colleague, demanding action against the assaulters and providing protection for doctors.
The incident took place earlier in the day, when the duty doctor while attending the patient, had informed the relatives about the severe injury she had due to an iron needle that was found inside her leg, and suggested that she be shifted to the X-ray machine block before conducting any surgery.
Following this, the attendants started shouting at the doctor and threatened him with their links to the ruling party leaders, Telangana Junior Doctors Association (TJUDA) General Secretary S Ravi Shankar told The New Indian Express.
The doctors boycotted emergency services on Sunday and raised slogans in the hospital premises demanding protection and action against the alleged attackers.
Shankar further said that the higher authorities of the hospital have not yet taken any action on the incident. However, the police reached the spot and arrested the attendants, while the main accused is absconding.
The hospital reported a similar incident earlier in April, where doctors were allegedly attacked after a patient with multiple illnesses died of COVID-19. After his death, two of his family members blamed the doctors for it and allegedly attacked them.
The medical staff at the hospital has informed that such incidents have been happening frequently during COVID-19 period, and have requested protection and assurance from the hospital authorities and the chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.
