Patient’s kin assault Arakkonam GH staff, medics stage protest

Trouble started on Wednesday, as a 53-year-old woman who was admitted for treatment to COVID-19 with oxygen support suddenly collapsed. Her aggrieved relatives picked up a quarrel with the medical and nursing staff. Doctors said that when one of the relatives tried to assault a doctor, he was stopped by para medical personnel. But, in turn they assaulted the para medical staff who intervened.

Following this, officials rushed to the spot and pacified the tempers. While the relatives held that they had only questioned the personnel and had not assaulted them, doctors who complained to the Arakkonam town police said police could view the CCTV footage which would reveal what happened on the spot and then stopped work in the hospital in protest.

However, after some time, the protesting medical personnel went back to work. Officials said the problem was because neither the few police personnel or private security could prevent the entry of patients’ attenders into hospitals.

Though food was provided for patients from a private hotel by the hospital, attenders prefer to hand over food themselves resulting in numerous persons entering the quarantined wards casually increasing the risk of infection.