The district administration Monday withheld the salary of medical superintendent of district hospital, Rajouri, after a protest rocked the hospital in the late evening hours of Sunday due to alleged “unavailability of doctors” to attend to the victims of a road accident.
Reports said, “At about 9 pm on Sunday, around 6 peoplesustained injuries in an accident involving a minibus at Shahlukh shrine,Bhawani. The injured were shifted to district hospital Rajouri for treatment.”
However, soon after the injured were brought into thehospital, their family members staged a protest against the unavailability ofdoctors in the premier hospital of the district.
The protest continued for around an hour, during which theprotesters raised slogans against the hospital and district administrations.
They said, “The people injured in Nowshera road accidentwere brought into district hospital Rajouri for treatment, but there was noteven a single doctor on duty to attend to the patients. They were left on God’smercy.”
They alleged, “The situation in the district hospital, whichhas now been upgraded to the level of GMC Rajouri associated hospital, isgetting grim with each passing day. A majority of the staff members showcasecallous approach and the patients are not administered the required treatment.”
Soon after the district administration received informationabout the protest, reports said, tehsildar Rajouri was sent to the spot. “Thetehsilar, on reaching the hospital, found out that there wasn’t even a singledoctor present in the hospital and the patients were lying unattended,”highly-placed sources within the administration said, adding that a dutyroaster of doctors was neither maintained nor displayed.
Meanwhile, in its official communication, the districtadministration said, “Taking strong note of Sunday’s incident of absence ofdoctors in emergency ward of district hospital Rajouri, the deputy commissionerhas ordered withholding the salary of medical superintendent and has alsoordered an inquiry into the incident.”
It added, “The issue erupted in the late evening hours onSunday when victims of accident that took place in Shahlukh shrine area ofNowshera were rushed to district hospital Rajouri for treatment, but no doctorwas available to treat the patients. Taking note, tehsildar Rajouri was rushedto the spot who reported that the injured were not getting proper treatment.”
During inquiry, it also came to fore that medicalsuperintendent of the hospital, Dr Suresh Gupta, was absent from duty and wasalso out of station without any permission and no doctor duty roster wasdisplayed, the official communication read, adding that Dr Sachin Vaid shouldhave been present on duty, but he was sent on a leave sanctioned by the medicalsuperintendent.
It was also found that Dr Jabeen Akhter, who was present onduty between 2 pm to 8 pm left the hospital without waiting for the relieverand informing the hospital administration, it further stated.
Taking note, the salary of medical superintendent Dr SureshGupta has been withheld till further orders.
The deputy commissioner, Mohammad Aijaz Asad, has alsoordered to constitute an inquiry team comprising of SE hydraulic, Rajouri,chief medical officer, Rajouri, and assistant director food safety department,who shall submit a report for further disciplinary action within a period ofseven days.