PATNA: The Junior Doctors’ Association (
JDA) of
Patna Medical College and Hospital (
PMCH) on Monday reiterated its demand for enhanced security on the hospital premises even though it withdrew the call for strike it had given on Sunday following an ugly scene in the emergency ward in the wee hours of Sunday.
The trouble began when two accident victims died in the hospital. Alleging medical negligence, their attendants created a ruckus outside the emergency ward room number 102. The junior doctors alleged the security guards were not on their duty.
The strike call was withdrawn following a talk between the hospital administration and a JDA delegation. “We had a meeting with the PMCH’s chief security officer in the morning. He has assured us that the security will be beefed up,” JDA president Dr Vinay Kumar said.
A state health department order in November last year had stated that the number of permanent security guards at PMCH should be increased to 200. The hospital still has only 80 security guards, JDA sources said.
“We have taken cognizance of the situation. We have already sent an executive order to the agency that outsources security personnel to us and asked them to increase the personnel count to 200,” PMCH principal Dr Vijay Kumar Gupta said.
Recently appointed chief security officer at PMCH, Colonel (retd) Akhtar Ali said the agency has been given one week’s time to provide the additional security guards. “We have also chalked out a plan for security management. It has been sent to Patna divisional commissioner and Rogi Kalyan Samiti chairperson Anand Kishore for approval,” Ali said.
