SSKM junior doctors on indefinite strike following 'assault'

Junior doctors at the state-run SSKM Hospital sat on an 'indefinite strike' demanding proper security arrangements for them following the alleged assault on one of their colleagues by relatives of a child patient admitted there.
Four members of the family of the patient were arrested on the charge of involvement in assaulting junior doctor Abhishek Singh last night for alleged negligence in the child's treatment, a senior Kolkata Police officer said today.
The incident took place last night when relatives of a child patient from Basirhat's Golaghata in North 24 Parganas district, admitted at SSKM's Emergeny ward, allegedly beat up the junior doctor complaining delay in treatment, the police officer said.

His fellow junior doctors at the SSKM Hospital caught hold of four of the 30-odd members of the patient's party, took them to the Bhowanipore Police Station and lodged a complaint, following which an FIR was registered, he said.
Senior doctors of the SSKM management, DC (South) Murli Dhar along with Officer-in-Charge and other officers of Bhowanipore Police Station reached the hospital at around 2.30 AM after the junior doctors started their strike.
The junior doctors gheraoed the visiting team of senior hospital physicians and it went on till the arrests were made this morning, Dhar said.

They later submitted a deputation to the Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research and the SSKM Director demanding proper security for the doctors at the hospital and vowed to continue their strike till their demands are met, junior doctor Sujan Ghosh said.

Meanwhile, three persons have been booked for allegedly
beating up the woman doctor in Sion hospital last night, police said today.
The doctor was allegedly slapped and beaten up by the relatives of a four-month-old girl, who was admitted in the hospital for treatment of pneumonia, they said.
The patient's mother and her other relatives alleged that the doctor was not providing proper medical treatment to the child, a police official said.
After the incident, the doctors present in the hospital gathered and protested in the premises, he said.
Later, the hospital administration called the police and the patient's mother was taken into custody, he said.

The woman doctor also complained to the hospital administration about the incident, he said.
The Sion police today registered an offence against the patient's mother and her two relatives under IPC section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), the official said.
According to the data of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's medical department, the present strength of security personnel in KEM hospital is 210 and there is an additional requirement of 306 guards.
The current strength of security staff in Sion hospital is 180 and there is an additional requirement of 206.
In the Nair hospital, which is also run by the BMC, presently 97 security personnel are deployed and there is an additional need of 133.

The Maharashtra government has already promised to deploy 500 security personnel from Maharashtra State Security Corporation in the hospitals by April 1.
The Medical Education Minister yesterday said that by April-end, 1,130 guards will be recruited in government hospitals to prevent attacks.
He also said that Rs 33 crore has been sanctioned for the recruitment of guards.