15 March,2011 06:40 AM IST | | Priyanka Vora
Upset at slew of attacks on doctors, Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) threatens to go on token strike next week; fee hike also among issues
UPSET at the alleged non-implementation of an act intended to protect doctors from attacks by aggrieved patients and their families, nearly 3,000 resident doctors across Maharashtra, of which 1,500 are from the city, have threatened to go on a token strike next week.
Relatives of a patient ransacked the Shatabdi Hospital in Borivli and attacked the doctor on duty alleging medical negligence
The Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) made the announcement and said that the doctors were upset that violent acts continued against them despite the Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions Act, 2009, making manhandling of doctors a non-bailable offence (see box).
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They are also protesting the hike in the fees of MBBS and post-graduate programmes in medicine.
Members from the association said that they reached the end of their rope after Sunday's attack on doctors at the Government Medical College (GMC) in Aurangabad, wherein two resident doctors, Saurabh Patil and Manoj Patil, were allegedly beaten up by relatives within the hospital campus.
"This is the fifth incident this year and we are tired of the authorities' apathy. We had strongly condemned the incident and we will participate in a token strike next week. We cannot continue to be preyed upon by relatives of patients.
Authorities have visited our hospital several times and we are always assured that better security will be provided to us. Dr Saurabh has suffered an eardrum injury in the attack. Who should be held responsible for it?" asked Dr Parimal Kore, a MARD official from the GMC in Aurangabad.
"This is not the first time doctors have had to face the patients' wrath. Even after the Act came into force, 11 such incidents have occurred in Mumbai alone and the offenders have not been booked under the Act in even one case.
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Police officials tell us that the Act is new and they are not trained in its implementation," said Dr Pankaj Nalawde, president, central MARD.
Fee hike
MARD's Vice-President Dr Amol Gaikwad said that they will also protest the hike in fees of MBBS and post-graduate courses in medicine by the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER).
"Though the fee hike will not affect us, we anticipate that the younger lot wanting to take up courses in medicine will have to be very rich to afford medical education even in government colleges. We are just asking for basic security and for keeping medical education affordable to all," he said.
Dr Sanjay Gaiwale, resident doctor at JJ Hospital and General Secretary of MARD, said "We will present a proposal about the security aspect and the fee hike to the DMER and intimate the authorities about the token strike.
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We have been waiting in vain for the authorities to do something and have been forced to take the extreme step this time."
INCIDENTS IN 2010
15 people assaulted medics after one Magdum Kasam Ashrafi (35) died at JJ hospital.u00a0u00a0
Senior resident doctors Preeti Gupta and Prashant Bhand were allegedly attacked by an unruly mob of relatives of Shahid Momin (50), who died in the JJ hospital ward.
In August, Mangala Ekhande (55) died due to renal failure a day after being admitted to KEM hospital. When her son Arun heard about her demise, he went to the ward with au00a0 group of 10 people and attacked resident doctor Tushar Dhakte (25), who was treating Ekhande.
Doctors at Sion Hospital went on strike after a patient's relatives allegedly manhandled the staff. They were angry because the doctors refused to admit the man, who was suffering from a severe stomachache. He was given a few medicines and asked to go home.u00a0
In March, a 50-year-old cardiac patient died while undergoing treatment at JJ Hospital. A group of 20 relatives doctors and other staff at alleging the death was due to their negligence.
The Other Side
Questioned about the alleged non-implementation of the act, Milind Mahiskar, Medical Education Secretary, said in an SMS, "The concerned (sic) have been arrested and strict action will be taken against them."
He was referring to the Aurangabad incident.
THE ACT
The Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions Act, 2009, makes vandalism of hospital property and all acts of violence against Medicare Service Persons punishable and non-bailable offences. It provides for imprisonment up to three years and a fine of up to Rs 50,000.
