Doctors in Mysore on warpath over suicide of their colleague

The situation in Nanjangud turned tense following the suicide of Dr Nagendra. The medical fraternity expressed outrage over imposing daily targets and demanded that zilla panchayat Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Prashant Kumar Mishra be suspended.

All services barring emergency cases have been affected at various hospitals in Mysore and Nanjanagudi. The doctors and medical staff at Mysore have launched a protest. The doctors blamed IAS officer Prashant Kumar Mishra for the suicide of Dr Nagendra.

While the chief minister, B.S Yeddiyurappa has announced compensation and an inquiry into the incident, the doctors refused to budge. The members of the Private Hospitals and Nursing Home Associations (PHANA) which includes the doctors, nurses, paramedical and support staff wore black badges and ribbons and a candlelight protest across all the Hospitals in the state to express their solidarity to Dr Nagendra's family.

"We condemn the insensitive bureaucracy and administration for mishandling the pandemic by enforcing the Disaster Management Act. The administration has been insensitive to the problems and stress of the healthcare personnel," the association stated.

Dr Ravindra, president of PHANA said, "It is unfortunate that we have lost him. What it is more unfortunate is that we lost him due to bureaucracy. The bureaucrats don't understand how we work and they pressurise us.

We are risking our lives sitting in the forefront and it is easiest thing for the one who passes orders sitting in an air conditioned room. The policymakers should at least understand this now and stop interfering with our duties."

"They have set daily targets, but our target is the wellness of the patient. The government thinks that Disaster Management Act is the biggest weapon in their hands," he said

The President of Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors and a resident doctor at Victoria hospital Dr Dayanand Sagar in Bengaluru stated that the government believes in resolving issues on a day-to-day basis and overlooks bigger problems.

"The government has to fill more than 50% vacancies. This includes not only the doctors but also the nursing and paramedical staff. They are sitting on the long-standing demand of contractual doctors to regularise their jobs. We are overworked. The administrators have no clue on how we work. For them, the numbers matter and not the patients. We stay away from our families."

The Nanjanagudi hospital where Dr Nagendra worked has 60% vacancies to be filled. The "government needs to address this issue. The government has announced compensation but so far the government has not taken any action against those responsible for his suicide," Sagar added.

Another government doctor at Victoria Hospital said, "We are under acute pressure. The government should come out of its numbers game and look at the real picture. Our duty is to treat and heal patients and not to meet the government targets," she said.

"Dr Ravindra, president of PHANA said, "It is unfortunate that we have lost him. What it is more unfortunate is that we lost him due to bureaucracy. The bureaucrats don't understand how we work and they pressurise us. We are risking our lives sitting in the forefront and it is easiest thing for the one who passes orders sitting in an air conditioned room. The policymakers should at least understand this now and stop interfering with our duties." Dr Ravindra | President of PHANA

"We condemn the insensitive bureaucracy and administration for mishandling the pandemic by enforcing the Disaster Management Act. The administration has been insensitive to the problems and stress of the healthcare personnel," the association stated".

"The government has to fill more than 50% vacancies. This includes not only the doctors but also the nursing and paramedical staff. They are sitting on the long-standing demand of contractual doctors to regularise their jobs. We are overworked. The administrators have no clue on how we work. For them, the numbers matter and not the patients. We stay away from our families". 

"We are under acute pressure. The government should come out of its numbers game and look at the real picture. Our duty is to treat and heal patients and not to meet the government targets".