Intern doctor heckled by patient's kin, scuffle breaks out at CNMCH

Kolkata: Tension ran high at the Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital (CNMCH) after an intern doctor was manhandled by family members of a patient who was taken to the emergency department of the hospital.

The family members of the patient alleged negligence in his treatment and heckled the woman doctor inside the emergency ward of the hospital on Saturday night. The victim's family members have lodged a complaint with the local police station on the basis of which police have held two persons.

The patient was taken to the emergency ward by his family members at around 9 pm on Saturday. The condition of the patient started deteriorating within a few hours of his admission. As a result of which the patient's family members became agitated and attacked the on-duty intern Tanima Chakraborty alleging that there was negligence in the treatment.

The incident triggered tension among the interns and junior doctors in the hospital on Saturday night. Some other interns came to her rescue which lead to a quarrel between the two groups. A scuffle soon broke out between the junior doctors and the family members of the patient. After being informed, Tanima's father, a resident of Belighata also rushed to the hospital and later lodged a complaint at Beniapukur police station against the accused who had attacked the intern. After starting an investigation, the police held two persons for their alleged involvement in the incident. Police later arrested the two accused after interrogating them.

Following the incident, the junior doctors in the hospital expressed their concern over the poor security arrangements inside the hospital campus. Some of the junior doctors threatened to go on strike if the incidents of attack on the junior doctors were not checked.

Junior doctors at the CNMCH said that the incidents of attacks on junior doctors have become a regular phenomenon and are going unchecked. There was not enough policemen in the hospital to check such incidents, they alleged. The hospital authorities, however, assured that the matter will be looked into.