Angry docs to KCR: Sir, Gandhigiri has its limits
Trouble at Gandhi Hospital comes a day after DC reported that the hospital was sending home COVID-19 patients if their symptoms were mild
Hyderabad: Trouble flared up at Hyderabad's main COVID-19 treatment facility, the Gandhi Medical Hospital (GMH), on Wednesday with junior doctors spilling out into the streets outside to protest last night's attack on two of their fellow professionals by patient attendants.
Apart from their ire over the attack itself, the junior doctors spilled out details of the poor conditions under which they have been made to work and the relentless pressure they have been subjected to in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last evening, a 55-year-old coronavirus patient succumbed to the infection after which relatives of the patient allegedly assaulted junior doctors with an iron rod, the doctors alleged.
Irate health workers began their protest that went on till early hours this morning. Demanding more security and action against the attackers, the doctors sought deployment of a special protection force inside Gandhi Hospital.
Doctors say that the deceased patient had high sugar and blood pressure levels due to which he succumbed. They said the family had been apprised of the patient's deteriorating condition. Although the patient had been advised not to leave his bed, he was found lying unconscious near the toilet in the hospital. The doctors said the patient collapsed as he had flouted medical advice and strained his body. The doctors couldn't save him despite CPR.
Anger towards Gandhi Hospital has also been triggered by several videos released by patients in recent days. The last WhatsApp messages of a journalist who succumbed to COVID-19 complained of negligence and lack of attention. Doctors contend that most of the COVID-19 deaths are caused by co-morbidity factors.
The trouble at Gandhi Hospital comes a day after Deccan Chronicle reported that the hospital was sending home COVID-19 patients if their symptoms were mild. The High Court rapped the state government for not coming clean on the COVID-19 situation and governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has been critical of the state government's handling of the COVID-19 crisis.