Himachal hospital brawl: Sukhu orders constitution of new committee to re-examine incident

Shimla, Dec 29 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday directed health officials to constitute a new committee to relook at an altercation between a patient and a doctor at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) here.

He issued the direction while presiding over a meeting of the health department here, a day after doctors at IGMC called off their strike demanding revocation of termination orders of the doctor who was involved in the brawl.

During the meeting, Sukhu asked the officials to constitute a new committee to re-examine the altercation between the doctor, Raghav Narula, and the patient, Arjun Singh.

He said the government will ensure adequate security for doctors and other staff but inappropriate behaviour with patients will not be tolerated.

He also instructed the officials to introduce mandatory human behaviour and man management courses for doctors to uphold the ethics of the profession.

Sukhu said the government is contemplating introduction of numbers in the annual confidential report (ACR) of doctors for good behaviour with patients.

If any patients or attendants misbehave with doctors, the matter should be reported to the seniors, he said.

The CM said vacant posts of doctors and paramedical staff are being filled so that they can discharge their duties without any hassle. The government is also mulling offering incentives to highly qualified doctors to attract more specialists to the public medical sector, he added.

The resident doctors at IGMC called off their two-day strike against Narula's removal on Sunday evening after Sukhu assured them that the brawl would be looked into again.

The Resident Doctors Association of IGMC is awaiting the revocation of Narula's termination following the inquiry report. The doctors said they will hold a meeting on January 3 to discuss their future plan of action.

The altercation, which was captured on camera, showed Narula punching Singh, who allegedly attempted to kick the doctor. An inquiry committee report found both parties at fault. It found "misconduct, misbehaviour and acts of unbecoming a public servant" on Narula's part.

Singh claimed the dispute was triggered after he objected to being addressed as "tu" instead of "tum", which angered Narula.

However, Narula maintained that it was Singh who instigated the fight by using abusive language against him and his family. PTI BPL DIV DIV