Patients faced problems as the agitating doctors closed the Out Patient Department (OPD) of the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Government Hospital (Coronation) on Tuesday.
The doctors are demanding that those involved in assault on Dr SK Verma should be arrested. The association of the Government doctors, the Provincial Medical and Health Services (PMHS) has threatened that the OPDs of all the Government hospitals of the district would be closed from Thursday if the culprits are not arrested in the next 24 hours.
The OPD boycott by the doctors of the second biggest hospital of the district created problems for the patients. The hospital has OPD of 400-500 per day. Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Bhagat Singh Colony said that the doctors should adopt other means of registering protest than going on work boycott as this form of protest affects poor patients the most.
On Monday, the relatives of Rajesh Kumar created ruckus in the hospital when he died allegedly after an injection was administered. The relatives manhandled Dr SK Verma as they charged him with negligence which caused death of Kumar. The doctor was even beaten up with slippers.
The Medical Superintendent (MS) of the hospital, Dr Bharati Rana said that the work would be resumed only after the assailants of Dr Verma are arrested. Dr SK Verma told The Pioneer that the patient complained of pain in wrist and was administered diclofenac injection (pain killer) and was kept under observation for some time. He claimed that the reaction of an injection occurs immediately but in this case the patient died after two hours.
Dr Verma said that the hospital has only three security guards and the Government should deploy more guards in the hospital for safety of staff. The agitated doctors are also demanding that police post should be setup in the hospital campus.
Meanwhile a delegation of PMHS led by district President Dr Pankaj Sharma met the Senior Superintendent of Police, Dehradun, Sadanand Date and demanded that the person involved in the assault on doctor should be arrested. The association has given a time period of 24 hours to the police for arrest failing which the OPDs in all hospitals of the district would be closed.