Just 15 days after a mob confronted a doctor at the hospital, another doctor faced verbal abuse from a patient's kin.

Less than two weeks after a mob entered the hostel at Hyderabad’s Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) looking to confront a doctor who had tended to a family member, another incident of assault against a doctor has come to light from the same hospital.

Nikhil P, was brought to the hospital at around 4.22 am on Monday morning after sustaining injuries in an accident. Doctors examined him and he was taken for an ultrasound scan, after which it was decided that he would require a CT scan. The patient was taken downstairs and made to wait in the radiology department for the scan around 5.15 am.

In the meantime, the patient’s relatives who were allegedly drunk, approached the medical officer on duty, Dr Anvesh, and began verbally abusing him and manhandling him as well. The Panjagutta Police were called to control the situation. In a video of the incident, a man can be seen yelling at the officers and doctors in the hospital.The men allegedly threatened the staff of the hospital saying that they knew Telangana Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav.

The doctor was not severely hurt and left the locality shortly after the incident.

“We were called by hospital authorities and went to ensure that the situation did not escalate. Later a case was filed and investigations are underway,” an officer from the Panjagutta Police station said.  A case has been filed under section 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty).

Speaking to the media on Monday evening, Dr Anvesh spoke of the incident, “The patient was involved in a road traffic accident as he was driving under the influence of alcohol. He hit the divider on the road and had sustained injuries to his head. He was brought to the emergency and we tended to him right away. Four attenders came with him and were shouting rudely from the entrance and demanding for a doctor. We continued tending to the patient and took immediate steps to assess and treat him.”

About 15 days ago, a similar incident had taken place at the same hospital. A mob of men had barged into the hostel premises of the NIMS Campus, looking for a doctor who had allegedly treated their relative. Following this, several doctors at NIMS demanded that security measures be increased on hospital premises. They met with state Health Minister Etela Rajender regarding this on May 19.

This story was originally published on The News Minute and is reprinted here with permission. It can be viewed on https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/2-doctors-attacked-within-2-weeks-patients-hyderabads-nims-hospital-102092