Plagued by cases of negligence, govt doctors demand emergency department

HYDERABAD: The Telangana Junior Doctors Association (TJUDA) has sent a representation to health authorities for the establishment of emergency medicine department in government hospitals after yet another case of alleged medical negligence was reported in the city. In the latest incident, intern doctors at the state-run Gandhi Hospital declared a brain-dead patient as dead. As the family was preparing for the patient’s last rites, senior doctors said that the patient was alive.

While the incident happened two days ago, another incident of alleged medical negligence was reported a week ago. Currently, none of the government hospitals in the state, except for the semi-government Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), have emergency departments. “Currently, the casualty and trauma departments are run mostly by MBBS doctors and interns. The large number of patients and staff deficit has led to denial and delay of services, and at times even mismanagement of cases. Establishing the dedicated emergency department with PG doctors will improve the quality of care to patients,” said Dr PS Vijayender Goud, president, Telangana Junior Doctors Association (TJUDA).

Along with the establishment of emergency departments, a demand to introduce PG emergency medicine has also been represented. “In our state, we do not have emergency medicine as a PG subject but there is a huge demand for emergency medicine. It should be included as a PG subject too,” says the representation to the principal secretary of health department.