Resident doctor assaulted at Nagpur's Mayo Hospital by relatives of patient; complaint filed

A doctor was assaulted at Mayo Hospital in Nagpur on Wednesday afternoon in the surgery department. Relatives of a patient attacked resident doctor Dr Sameer Chandekar, leaving the hospital premises tense for a while.

According to the information available, a patient had been brought to the surgery department for treatment on Wednesday afternoon. At the same time, another patient in serious condition arrived for admission. Seeing how grave the condition was, Dr Chandekar began examining that patient first.

The relatives of the patient who had arrived earlier did not like this. They said he should look at their patient first and only then attend to the other. An argument broke out between the doctor and the relatives, and within moments it turned violent.

The angry relatives abused the doctor and attacked him. They grabbed and pulled his collar and pushed him onto a bed. Even then they did not stop, and punched the doctor.

Hospital security staff reached the spot on hearing of the incident and brought the situation under control by intervening.

It has emerged that the relatives of the patient who carried out the assault are police personnel. Mayo dean Dr Avinash Gawande took the incident seriously at once. Medical Superintendent Dr Nitin Shende filed a formal complaint at Tehsil police station. MARD has demanded strict action against those who carried out the assault.

The incident has again raised the question of doctors' safety. To ensure doctors are not assaulted in hospitals and get a safe environment, the government has deployed Maharashtra Security Force personnel. Despite crores of rupees being spent, doctors still face assault by relatives for giving critically ill patients treatment first according to their condition, which is a serious matter. The Mayo incident has once again brought the safety of resident doctors to the fore.