The Kerala Medical Post Graduate Association (KMPGA) has condemned the suspension of a resident doctor at the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, on the charge of misbehaving with the caregivers of a patient some days ago.
The action was taken against resident doctor Anantha Krishnan after a video of him went viral on the social media on Sunday. KMPGA president Mithun Mohan, convener Amal and secretary Ajil Antony said that no inquiry had been conducted before suspending him. The incident that happened at the casualty ward of one of the busiest medical college hospitals in the State highlighted the daily plight of resident doctors, they said.
They claimed that the staff at the X-ray section returned a patient after some mistakes were noticed in the prescription given by a doctor at the orthopaedic casualty section on January 29. Instead of suggesting X-ray examination of the leg and hand of the patient, the doctor had prescribed that his hand be examined twice. Both the patient and his caregiver were provoked after they had to return to the casualty after waiting for long at the X-ray section.
They shouted at a woman house surgeon who was on duty then at the casualty section. They hurled abuses at Mr. Anantha Krishnan who questioned this behaviour. The prescription was then corrected and returned to the patient. The KMPGA leaders said that the caregiver came back again and started an argument. The resident doctor then tried to convince him that they were in the midst of a busy schedule and let the X-ray examination be done and later treatment can be decided based on that. The caregiver, however, was in no mood to listen and started misbehaving with the resident doctor and other health staff again. This provoked the resident doctor who reciprocated in a similar manner.
The KMPGA leaders said that only some parts of the conversation were recorded as a video and circulated in social media. Blaming the work pressure on the juniors that often result in lapses, the resident doctors said that the authorities should revoke the suspension that was based only on a social media clip.
Published - January 31, 2022 07:40 pm IST
