On Friday evening, a resident doctor from Sion Hospital was allegedly beaten up by relatives of a patient admitted in the medical intensive care unit (MICU). Dr Swapnil Shinde has not been traceable after the incident. His colleagues from Sion Hospital said that he is neither in the hospital nor the hostel.
“He was so scared after the incident that he ran away. Who will take the responsibility if he ends up hurting himself,” said Dr Santosh Wakchaure of president of Maharashtra association of resident doctors (Mard). Mard members have approached the Sion police station to file a complaint against the relatives who assaulted Dr Shinde. According to sources from Sion Hospital, the patient named Ramesh Umbre was critical since admission. The relatives of the patient felt that Dr Shinde, who was on MICU duty was not paying attention to the patient.
Agitated, the relatives assaulted the doctor, who ran away from the hospital premises. Doctors at the hospital said that Umbre was admitted to the hospital a few days ago. “The patient, however, became critical on Friday and the resident doctor was doing his best to revive him,” said Dr A. Supe, dean of Sion Hospital.
Members of Mard said that his phone has also been unreachable. “We are in touch which Shinde’s brother in Pune. He might have gone there,” said Dr Supe, adding that Shinde had gone to his room and packed all his clothes.
In a mark of protest, Mard has called for a “black day” on Saturday across all municipal hospital to condemn the attack.