Andhra Pradesh Authorities Seek Safety Reports from Government Medical Colleges

Vijayawada: In the wake of an attack on a junior doctor at the hospital attached to the Siddhartha Medical College, state medical education authorities have called for reports on safety at all the 11 government medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh.

The junior doctor on duty had been assaulted and equipment damaged at the hospital on Friday following the death of a patient. Following this, junior doctors went on a strike, prompting the state government to take quick action.

Medical authorities held talks with junior doctors on Saturday, where the latter raised concerns over repeated attacks on doctors in the state.

Following the talks, the director of medical education has called for reports on the existing safety norms and measures required for further strengthening safety at the 11 government medical colleges and attached hospitals in the state.

As a result, authorities have decided to strengthen security at vulnerable places in the hospitals, like casualty, ICU and doctors’ room. As security at hospitals is outsourced, authorities are assessing the requirement of security at each hospital. If more security is needed at some hospitals, it will receive additional security personnel from hospitals where there is no need for maintaining high security.

Further, medical superintends have been instructed to reduce the number of attendants of patients in hospitals. Though only two attendants are allowed as per norms, this provision is not being implemented strictly. With the assault on the junior doctor at Siddhartha hospital, authorities have decided to insist on allowing only two attendants with a patient.

With regard to delay in payment of stipend to junior doctors, authorities assured that this issue will be resolved at an early date.

On the other hand, Machavaram police have arrested four persons involved in the assault on the junior doctor at the Siddhartha government hospital. The four have been produced before the local magistrate on Saturday.

Meanwhile, junior doctors are holding talks with their colleagues from other medical colleges to chalk out their next move on the issue.

Meanwhile, Machavaram police arrested four people in connection with the assault on a doctor by relatives of a deceased patient at the Vijayawada Government General Hospital (GGH) ICU on Friday.

The arrested accused are Gopi, Koteswara Rao, Venkateswara Rao, and Hari Krishna. They were produced before a magistrate and sent to judicial custody on Saturday. This incident sparked a flash strike by GGH doctors.