A shocking act of doctors

Confining all the patients and their attendants inside, doctors and interns at M Abdur Rahim Medical College Hospital yesterday staged a demonstration, protesting alleged attack on their colleagues by a patient's attendant on Monday night.

As a result, over 1,000 patients and their relatives got trapped inside the 500-bed hospital for nearly nine hours. 

Services at the public hospital came to a halt after senior doctors and interns jointly started the sudden strike yesterday morning.

Due to the sudden strike, outdoor and emergency services at the hospital also remained suspended for hours.

During a visit to the hospital yesterday noon, this correspondent found the main entrance of the hospital locked up and the agitating doctors were staging demonstrations outside, blocking the entrance of the emergency department.

Meanwhile, relatives and attendants of the patients, who remained stranded inside the hospital building for hours, alleged that most of the wards of the hospital were also locked, causing them immense suffering.

“My relatives are stuck inside the hospital,” said Jyotsna Bala, who could not enter the hospital premises to see her ailing granddaughter Shantana Roy due to the strike.

Jahurul Islam, who admitted his wife with breathing problem four days ago, said, “I had to buy medicine for my wife in the morning, but I could not do it in time as the exit doors of the hospital were locked for hours.”

Moreover, the agitating intern doctors even did not allow journalists to get inside the hospital premises during the agitation.

They withdrew their agitation programme around 3:00pm.

Contacted, Dr Mohammad Shahjahan, director of the hospital, denied of making any comment in this regard.

According to the witnesses, Dr Foysal of medicine ward allegedly physically assaulted a female attendant of a patient on Monday night.

When her relatives protested the misconduct, he along with other doctors and interns allegedly beat them up and handed them over to police.