Resident doctors at JJ hospital on indefinite strike alleging 'harassment'

Complaints were raised against HoD and ex-DMER director of the eye dept

Maharashtra/ doctors strike Resident doctors of the opthalmology department protesting at JJ Hospital | Twitter

Resident doctors from the ophthalmology department of JJ hospital, Maharashtra's biggest government hospital, complained of “harassment inside the Operation theatres, malpractices in the department”. They also raised complaints of “preferential treatments to rich patients” and “lack of hands-on surgical experience despite being third year residents.”

Close to 750 resident doctors went on an indefinite strike from May 31, seeking immediate action by the government against ex-DMER director Dr T. P. Lahane and ophthalmology department head Dr Ragini Parekh for their allegedly "abusive, and unprofessional way of running the department."

Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) at JJ hospital wrote to the dean saying that ex-dean Dr Lahane, despite holding no formal position at JJ, was continuing to practise in the department of ophthalmology and conducting cataract surgeries, which they claimed was having an adverse impact on their own learning because they weren't given the opportunity to perform surgeries at all.

While speaking to THE WEEK, Dr Shubham Soni, president of MARD at JJ said, "despite JJ being the apex institute of the country where a huge number of cataract surgeries are done, the current Junior Resident 2 batch and Junior Resident 1 batch, that is 28 residents in all, have done zero cataract surgeries. The fault doesn't lie with us. It lies with them (Lahane and Parekh) who have been unable to teach us and to provide us with the opportunity to actually perform a basic cataract surgery. To top it, Lahane is known for humiliating and abusing residents with obscene language in front of everyone for the littlest of mistakes."

MARD has also written to the state medical education minister Girish Mahajan and the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) to look into the matter. “We seek an immediate transfer of Dr Lahane and Dr Parekh as their presence is anti-academic, anti-resident, illegal and unethical,” said Dr Soni while addressing the media at JJ hospital on Thursday.

A three-member committee at the hospital was formed last week to investigate the resident doctors’ allegations. It found, among other things, that the department had only one unit, which is against the National Medical Commission (NMC) guidelines.

Both, Dr Lahane and Dr Parekh, along with seven other doctors working in the ophthalmology department on a contract basis, told the media that complaints by MARD were false.

Dr Parekh said that she was going on a medical leave and Dr Lahane said that he had resigned from his post citing "harassment by JJ Dean Dr Pallavi Saple." However, Dr Saple in turn told the media that she had not received a single resignation.

Answering questions on how will the hospital manage the patients in the face of an indefinite strike by the residents, she said that she had written to the BMC hospitals to supply JJ Hospital with manpower for smooth functioning. Dr Saple also formed a committee headed by the medical superintendent to review the allegations made by the resident doctors against Dr Lahane's son, Dr Sumeet Lahane for attempting to manipulate and intimidate the residents into withdrawing their complaint against his father. Dr Sumeet too, reportedly, was examining the patients and operating on them despite not holding any post at JJ hospital.

Ophthalmology resident doctors said it had taken a while for them to gather the courage to speak against the wrongdoings in the department. “Why does he have to work only out of JJ Hospital? Why can’t he go to any other state medical college? Because of the state’s programme, our academics are getting affected. We are not getting trained as ophthalmologists. It is a shame that till date we cannot perform a single cataract surgery by ourselves. And the fault is not ours, it is that of our professors who are not giving us the opportunity at all," said the residents.

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