SEEKING JUSTICE: Doctors and supporting staff holding a rally in front of the KGH Superintendent's office in Vizag on Monday seeking arrest of those responsible for the attack on the doctor. — Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

HYDERABAD: Government doctors have called for a strike in all State hospitals from Tuesday onwards in protest against the attack on Casualty Medical Officer Bangaraiah of King George Hospital (KGH) in Visakhapatnam on Sunday by relatives of an accident victim.

The Andhra Pradesh Government Doctors' Association (APGDA) held an executive body meeting here on Monday and decided to boycott all the services except emergencies till those involved in the attack were brought to book.

The association made it clear that the strike would continue till the police stop the trend of booking medical practitioners under Section 304(A) of the IPC (causing death by rash and negligent act) for alleged medical negligence cases.

Charge against police

Association secretary O. Nageshwara Rao said the Government should immediately issue orders in this regard so that this trend was stopped. "The patient lodges a complaint and the police frame a charge against the practitioner. However, when a doctor's chamber or clinic is ransacked or he is physically attacked, the police remain a silent spectator," he said.

Doctors said that IPC provisions could be used against a doctor if a committee of experts found him/her guilty of negligence. APGDA executive member P. Srinivas said: "The Government should make sure that doctors are given the required safety network to work efficiently in Government hospitals."

Meanwhile, the Government has chalked out a plan to meet the shortfall of doctors in various teaching and non-teaching hospitals. It is planning to rope in doctors working in primary health centres (PHCs) till the strike is called off.

Use of PHC doctors

Talking to The Hindu, Principal Secretary, Health, C.B.S. Venkat Ramana said that doctors posted in PHCs would be relocated to address emergency cases. "The Health Minister has issued us directions to take help of support staff like paramedics and nurses so that patients are not affected," Mr. Ramana said.

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