Hyderabad: Niloufer junior doctor assaulted by patient’s kin

HYDERABAD: In a second incident, reported within a span of few days, another junior doctor was assaulted at a government-run hospital in the city on Saturday by a patient’s relatives.
The latest incident took place at Niloufer Hospital where final year student, Dr Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, was attacked by attendants of a patient allegedly for honking at them as they were blocking the exit of the ICU building.
Niloufer superintendent Dr Murali Krishna lodged a compliant with the Nampally police.
In his complaint, the superintendent stated: “Dr Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, final year post graduate of paediatric department, was assaulted by attendants of patient Md Shafuddin on the hospital premises in the intensive care building ground floor. Requesting for necessary action against the accused.”
As per the complaint, the incident took place around 2 pm. The accused started abusing the doctor when he honked signalling at them to clear the way. The attendants opened the car door, hit the doctor in the face and tore his shirt. A female attendant also used abusive language against Reddy.
TOI’s attempts to reach Dr Reddy or the family involved in the incident for their comments failed to yield any result.
This comes close on the heels of the previous incident reported from the Government Chest Hospital where a junior doctor was assaulted, leading to unrest among the medical fraternity and boycott of duties. “We constantly work in fear of losing the confidence of the patient’s attendants and what consequences we will have to bear. If the public treats us this way, despite us working for 36 hours at a stretch and under stressful conditions, it’ll lead to trauma,” said a female junior doctor from the hospital.
Meanwhile, members of the Telangana Junior Doctors Association (TJUDA) said that these repeated incidents have led to many doctors slipping into depression. “Many doctors are now facing mental health issues due to the tremendous workload and shoddy treatment meted out to them by patients’ attendants,” said Dr Dharmula Sagar, president TJUDA.