PMCH junior doctors strike called off after suspension of orthopaedics dept HOD

Junior doctors at the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) called off their three-day old strike and joined duty on Monday morning after its principal removed Dr Vijay Kumar as the head of the department of orthopaedics, pending an inquiry against him.

The action followed a verbal direction to this effect from Bihar’s principal secretary, health, Sanjay Kumar, to the principal of the state’s oldest medical college on Sunday evening.

“We are getting an internal inquiry done so that such incidents do not recur,” said Sanjay Kumar.

According to sources, the department would look into the whole gamut of system of how internal and external evaluation of medicos was being done. It would also look into allegations by medicos that senior faculty members were erratic in taking classes, and would stay in hospital for barely a few hours to pursue private practice, leaving the majority of patient care to junior doctors.

PMCH superintendent Dr Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said, “The junior doctors have resumed duty and the functioning of our hospital is back to normal.”

Meanwhile, the three-member committee constituted to probe the charges against Dr Kumar and the medicos, who allegedly threatened the doctor for having failed five of the 10 postgraduate medicos in master of surgery (MS) examination, failed to submit its report even on Monday.

College principal Dr Vidyapati Choudhary while constituting a fact-finding committee, comprising heads of departments of surgery, medicine and gynaecology, had on July 5 asked the panel to submit its report within 24 hours.

“The committee members met today and waited till 4pm for the medicos to come and depose before them, but they didn’t. They are expected to submit the report tomorrow,” said Dr Choudhary.

The principal accepted that it was only after much persuasion that the doctors on the panel agreed to probe the matter.

Postgraduate medicos, who are the backbone of healthcare delivery at PMCH, were on an indefinite strike since last Friday, demanding a change in headship of orthopaedics department after five of the 10 medicos failed the MS examination.

The medicos alleged that Dr Kumar, who had a say in practical and internal assessment examination, deliberately failed some students after they refused to prescribe drugs of a particular pharmaceutical company, which he wanted them to. Dr Kumar has, however, denied all allegations.

First Published: Jul 09, 2019 14:47 IST