A doctor, identified as Piyush Pushkar Singh, at Hindu Rao Hospital was terminated from duty on Wednesday for “bringing disrepute to the institution”. Calling it baseless, the doctor said to challenge the decision in court.
North Delhi Municipal Commissioner Varsha Joshi, under whose jurisdiction the hospital falls, alleged that Dr. Singh had intercepted stocks of protective gear meant for the hospital store room, donated by an NGO to distribute to hospital staff.
“Dr. Piyush Pushkar Singh, DNB student in Orthopaedics Department is terminated from his services with immediate effect for bringing disrepute to the institution,” an order issued on Wednesday said.
The medical superintendent of the hospital was in touch with the NGO regarding the equipment which included face masks. However, Dr. Singh allegedly portrayed himself as an authorised person from the RDA [Resident Doctors Association] and distributed the equipment himself, said Ms. Joshi. “Thus, he not only misled the donor, defied the MS, and diverted the material, but also gave it away to people who didn’t need it, taking decisions which were nowhere in his purview,” she said.
Being a DNB student in the orthopaedics department, his termination would not effect the hospital’s capacity to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, she added.
Rejected allegations
Singh, however, rejected the allegation, stating that the NGO got in touch with him on its own accord, desiring to distribute protective gear to the RDA instead of the hospital administration, he said. He also said that the NGO had informed the hospital authorities regarding the same.
“If an NGO donates some equipment in my name, won’t I give it to whoever I choose to,” he said, adding “I’ve always raised my voice over issues at the hospital.”
While the commissioner said that the protective gear should have been sent to the hospital store to be distributed according to protocol, Dr. Singh said that resident doctors here had asked him not to do so. Donated gear being deposited to the hospital store was not being appropriately distributed to staff and was lying in waste, he said.
Show-cause notice
Dr. Singh was also issued a show-cause notice last month for putting up a video on Facebook highlighting issues at the hospital.
“He indulged in theft. I am an employer. I’m not going to tolerate it, not at such a time. No employer would,” said Ms. Joshi in another tweet.
