Some doctors at the M.S. Ramaiah Memorial Hospital staged a protest here on Tuesday after one of their colleagues was slapped allegedly by a family member of a patient on the hospital premises on Monday night.
Suresh Shah, a postgraduate orthopaedic surgeon, was attending to the patient, Piyush Singh (10), who had been brought to the hospital with a fracture.
M.S. Ramaiah Memorial Hospital authorities said that Piyush Singh had sustained a fracture in an accident and had been brought by his family at around 7.15 p.m. “He was administered oxygen and intravenous fluids following which the doctors recommended an X-ray. And when the patient was being shifted to the department concerned, the doctor was accompanying him. Suddenly a woman from the group, which had brought in the patient, slapped the doctor and walked away,” they said.
According to the hospital authorities, the lady in question did not explain the reason for her behaviour. However, family sources claimed that delay in the X-ray procedure had provoked the action.
“It was recommended that Piyush be shifted to an intensive care unit for observation. His vitals were functioning normally. The whole process was over at around 8.20 p.m. and the medical condition has to be investigated in a reasonable period of time. There are many patients and an hour’s wait cannot be called delay,” the hospital said.
The doctor sustained minor bruises in the incident. The hospital authorities were not clear on the woman’s relationship with the boy but have filed a complaint against the family with the Sadashivanagar police. “No person can harm the staff members or damage property. We cannot allow anyone to come in and manhandle doctors, so we have filed a complaint,” they said.
Meanwhile, the Sadashivnagar police were tight-lipped about the entire incident and said that a compromise was being worked out even though the hospital denied it.
