Resentment against attack on docs, assn holds candlelight march

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 23

The Resident Doctors Association, Punjab, today organised a candlelight vigil at Government Medical College here today to express resentment against the rising instances of attacks on doctors at hospitals.

The association expressed solidarity with their colleagues in Maharashtra who were critically injured in an attack by the relatives of a patient. Association spokesperson Dr Gagandeep Shergill said, “Even in Gurdaspur, a medical officer was manhandled by the security guard of a senior police official. The doctors are an easy target and vulnerable.”

He said such instances are frequently reported from across the county and the association demands better security at hospitals and strict action against people indulging in such unprovoked violence. Shergill who is also the senior vice-president of the PCMS Association, said, “We also demand a better healthcare delivery system at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital and demand that all tests are made available in house. He said they had demanded from the hospital management to make available stretchers, wheel chairs, waiting area chairs, water coolers, etc for the patients and their relatives. Members of the association stated that as the resident doctors are the face of the health services, they are often blamed by the patients and their relatives for all faults in the system.

The Amritsar chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) too convened an emergency meeting to condemn the attacks on doctors in Maharashtra under the president-ship of Dr Sukhjit Singh. The IMA requested that everyone should be sensitive towards the safety of doctors and pay attention that such incidents do not recur in future.