HYDERABAD: Junior doctors at Osmania General Hospital (OGH) raised the flag of mutiny on Friday alleging that the hospital management and the State Government were neglecting the acute shortage of basic medical essentials in the hospice and thereby, putting the lives of patients at risk.

Waving a saline bottle with fungus formation in it that was found in the acute medical care wing of the hospital, medicos and house surgeons of the OGH unit of the Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors Association first locked the resident medical officer's room before gathering in front of Hospital Superintendent Girish Narayan's office.

At the `receiving' end

Condemning the severe shortage of simple but crucial necessities like surgical cotton, spirit, syringes and drugs that has been plaguing the hospital for the last 15 days, the medicos said they had been pleading with the management to arrange for stocks.

"Without these, patients will have to suffer and such situations mostly end in their relatives thrashing us. However, the management has not done anything so far," APJUDA OGH unit president Sravan Kumar told The Hindu .

Hospital's version

According to Dr. Kumar, Superintendent Girish Narayan told the medicos that with user charges being withdrawn, the hospital was facing a deficiency of Rs.75 lakhs.

"The Government is not giving me funds. So I cannot do anything," Dr. Narayan reportedly told the agitating students.

"The saline bottle with fungus, which was found in the AMC, could have been administered to a patient and could have had extremely dangerous consequences. In spite of our bringing this to the notice of the management, they are not budging. Even oxygen is in shortage here," Dr. Kumar said.

Bound by promise

The junior doctors, pointing out that they could not launch a strike because of the undertaking given to the High Court, said they would however devise other protest plans shortly if the Government continued its indifference.

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