Shimla, December 22:
The Himachal Pradesh government has suspended an IGMC doctor after a viral video showed him assaulting a patient inside Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMC), Shimla, triggering public outrage and protests on the hospital campus. The doctor has been attached to the Health Directorate till further orders.
Confirming the action, the Medical Superintendent, IGMC, told the media that the hospital administration had submitted its inquiry report to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Health Minister Dr Dhani Ram Shandil, following which the government ordered the suspension.
The incident, captured in a video that went viral on social media, shows the doctor allegedly manhandling a patient who is a teacher at a private coaching institute in Shimla. The footage sparked anger among patients and their attendants, who accused the hospital authorities of shielding erring staff.
Soon after the video surfaced, attendants and patients staged a protest inside IGMC, raising slogans and demanding immediate action against the doctor.
The situation turned tense, forcing the deployment of additional police personnel, who had a tough time controlling the angry crowd as tempers flared in several wards and corridors of the hospital.
Hospital officials later constituted an internal inquiry, recorded statements of witnesses and submitted the report to the state government, leading to disciplinary action against the doctor.
The incident has once again raised serious questions over patient safety, doctors’ conduct and grievance redressal mechanisms in the state’s premier medical institution.
