Drunk attendants assault doctors in SMCH; doctors demand additional security

In India, as per the Government data, there is 1 doctor per 1445 Indians which is way below the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of at least 1 per 1000. In Assam, there is 1 doctor available per 1800 people. The fact is there is a huge scarcity of doctors in the state and on days like Holi when the emergency cases reach sky-high the doctors need to prioritise. Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) is where the Ambulances drive in from all across South Assam and on Holi, the number is significantly higher than other days.

The doctors were busy attending the patients in emergency and at around 4:00 PM in the evening, yesterday, attendants of one patient reached out to the doctors and said they want to take their patient home. Dr. Jahangir Laskar (PGT Dept of Surgery) and his colleague Dr. Debopriya asked the attendants to wait as they need to sign various papers in order to take home a patient. The attendants allegedly started using abusive words in the hospital premises, “Their allegation is that the doctors did not attend their request on a priority. But we need to understand that in Emergency doctors prioritise on the basis of the first-come-first-serve basis and in case of severe injuries, we treat them before others,” said Dr. Dawipayan Deb of SMCH.

Dr. Jahangir asked the attendants to behave themselves. The attendants were allegedly drunk, did not like the intervention and started beating Dr. Jahangir and his colleagues. Dr. Azad, Dr. Jeet Bhattacharjee. “Dr. Jahangir could have lost his eyesight, other doctors have their bones fractured and such assaults on doctors are becoming a common phenomenon,” informed Deb. He added, “Our demand is that the culprits should be bought to justice, additional security forces should be provided during festivals like Holi, Diwali etc. and additional security measures to prevent harassment of lady doctors inside the campus.”

Deb refused to share the details of the patient whose attendants assaulted the doctors in SMCH as he is not allowed to reveal the details of the patient. However, it is confirmed that the attendants are now locked up in Gunghoor Police Outpost. “Dr. Jahangir’s colleagues nabbed the culprits and handed them over to the Police official. They were so drunk that they could not escape the spot,” informed Deb.

Dr. Jahangir has lodged an FIR where he mentioned that he saw the attendants rushing towards him and with a fraction of a second he found himself lying on the floor. He has requested the outpost to take necessary action against the culprits.