A resident doctor and a medical dresser were attacked at Doctor Hedgewar Hospital in Karkardooma, Delhi, just days after resident doctors across the country resumed work following an 11-day strike. The strike was in response to the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata, which had sent shockwaves through the medical community.
What hapeened?
The attack occurred late Saturday night when the doctor was attending to a patient in a critical care scenario. Recounting the incident, the assaulted doctor, who preferred to remain anonymous, shared with PTI, “Late Saturday night, around 1:00 am, a patient with a forehead injury was brought to the hospital. I took him to the dressing room to stitch the wound. After I finished the first stitch and was working on the second, the patient suddenly pushed me and began hurling abuses.”
The situation quickly escalated when the patient’s son entered the room. “His son, who was outside the room, came in, slapped me, and they both started abusing me further,” the doctor added. The patient, according to the doctor, appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, which may have contributed to his aggressive behavior.
This incident has occurred at a time when the medical fraternity is still reeling from the recent strike, which began on August 12 and significantly impacted non-emergency services, including outpatient departments (OPD) and diagnostic services at major central and Delhi government hospitals. The resident doctors only returned to work on August 23, following a direct appeal from the Supreme Court and promises from the government to address their concerns.
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