Resident docs to take ‘slapping by gynaec head’ to Daga panel

The resident doctor had delayed the filling of form of a patient and this had angered the department head, who slapped her.

Resident doctors of JJ Hospital will take up the issue of one their members being slapped by Dr Rekha Davar, head of gynaecology department of JJ Hospital, to the Daga Committee which is their grievance redressal forum.

The incident had taken place in the second week of August when Dr Davar had slapped the female resident doctor in the ward in the presence of several persons. This has upset the resident doctors who had taken up the issue with the hospital administration and demanded that action be taken in this regard.

“This issue will now be taken up with the Daga Committee which is supposed to look into our complaints about our working conditions and other problems,” Dr Parameshwar Sathpati, president of the JJ Unit of Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors. This meeting will take place on September 30 in which the resident doctor who was slapped will be asked to narrate her story.

Sources said that the resident doctor had delayed the filling of form of a patient and this had angered the department head, who slapped her.”Even if the resident doctor had made some mistake this is not the way to behave with student doctors and there is no reason to harass them in this manner,” another senior professor said.

Dr Sathpati said that they have already ensured that this resident doctor and others who had protested following the incident would not be harassed by Dr Davar. “We have got a written statement from the administration that none of these resident doctors would be posted in her unit for the remaining period of their studies,” he pointed out.

Dr Satpathi said that along with this issue, their earlier pending complaint against Dr TP Lahane, the dean of JJ Hospital will also be taken up in this meeting. The resident doctors had complained that dean was not allowing the resident doctors in the ophthalmology to learn any surgical techniques despite their repeated requests.

Following repeated instances of harassment, more than 450 resident doctors in the hospital had gone on strike and had demanded the removal of the dean. It was only when the matter reached the High Court that it was decided to set up a redressal committee to look into the issues of the resident doctors.

According to Dr Sathpati, they have already had two meetings with the Daga Committee on their complaint against Dr Lahane, and that the matter will continue in the next meeting of September 30.