Tag: doctors protective gear

Delhi Hospital Fires Doctor for Social Media Posts on Shortage of Protective Gear, Masks

The termination letter issued by Hindu Rao Hospital’s medical superintendent accused the orthopaedic surgeon of “bringing disrepute to the institution.”

New Delhi: The Hindu Rao Hospital, which comes under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, has terminated the services of an orthopaedic surgeon who had raised the issue of there being a shortage of “proper equipment and masks” at the hospital for staff despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

An order terminating his service was issued by the medical superintendent and it accused him of “bringing disrepute to the institution.”

It was a month ago, on March 16, that a showcause notice was issued to Dr Piyush Singh by the medical superintendent of the hospital in which it was stated that he had “uploaded a video of the orthopaedic emergency ward of the Hindu Rao Hospital at 4:29 pm on 14.3.2010 on Facebook along with derogatory statements.”

The notice further stated, “You have bypassed the channels available to you for addressing your grievance and directly recorded to social media, which is objectionable (sic).”

Further the notice had asked Singh to “explain within 24 hours” why he should not be terminated from DNB court for not notifying the grievance either to his guide, or the head of department, the DNB coordinator, the DNB grievance cell or administration before taking to social media.

Also read: Doctors Are Running Out of Protective Gear. Why Didn’t the Govt Stop Exports in Time?

After a lapse of nearly a month, a subsequent office order was issued by the medical superintendent on April 15. It stated that “as per director of DHA/North DMC, Dr Piyush Pushkar Singh, DNB student in Orthopaedics Department in Hindu Rao Hospital, Delhi is terminated from his services with immediate effect for bringing disrepute to the institution.”

Earlier, Singh had pleaded innocence while responding to a tweet by a health journalist, who had stated that he was “fired” for “sharing a video of water dripping on a patient’s bed – thereby bringing ‘disrepute’ to the hospital” and that he was also being “accused of stealing masks and kits, etc.” and “for taking a donation of kits and distributing it to doctors”.

In his comments, he said that he had not stolen anything and that action was initiated despite him cooperating with the hospital administration.

Singh’s Twitter posts show he has been vocal on issues pertaining to facilities for doctors. He has also been using social media to spread awareness about COVID-19. In a post on March 20, he appealed to people to stay at home and not listen to rumours.

On March 27, after the lockdown had begun, he had put out another post to point out that there was shortage of “proper equipment and masks” for the staff at the hospital.

The Wire tried to contact Singh for his views but his phone was not reachable. We will update the story with his views as an when they are received.

‘Pathetic Condition of Safety Measures for Healthcare Workers’ in Assam, Says Congress

The state bulletin, alleges the opposition party, reveals a sorry picture of protective gear stocks in Assam.

Guwahati: The Assam wing of the Congress has sought to highlight the lack of protective gear for healthcare professionals in the state.

Assam Congress on Thursday, March 9, tweeted that according to Assam Bulletin on COVID-19 the state has 264 personal protection equipment (PPE), 975 N-95 masks, and 2,27,522 triple layer masks. The state Congress in its tweet said the numbers ‘show the pathetic condition of safety measures in a state with a population of 3.21 crore.’

The bulletin is an update on details like total number of samples tested, where they were tested, the number of passengers screened at airports, beds allocated for isolation with ICU/ventilators at the state-run hospitals and other details from January 28 to April 8.

According to the bulletin, there are 56 PPE kits at the state’s central store, 107 at the state-run medical colleges-cum-hospitals, and 101 at the districts. The total number of PPEs is 264.

There are 100 N-95 masks at the central store, 264 at medical colleges-cum-hospitals, and 611 in the districts.

The central storage has 60,150 triple layer masks, there are 68,606 at the state hospitals and 98,766 in the districts.

Also read: As Assam Gets First COVID-19 Patient, ‘Nizamuddin List’ Violates Privacy of Many

Leader of the opposition at the state legislative assembly, Debabrata Saikia told The Wire, “This is a serious matter considering the low numbers of essential equipment for our own frontline medical staff.”

Saikia also pointed to the Assam government’s alleged incompetence in dealing with the Tablighi Jamaat congregation’s fallout when it comes to the disease.

A central government circular dated April 2, sent to all the principal secretaries of health and family department across all the states and union territories in the country mentions that the “state governments and union territories may not go for the procurement of crucial medical equipment like PPEs, N95 masks and ventilators and these should be procured centrally by the ministry of health and family welfare (MOHFW) and distributed to the states.”

The central government circular was signed by the undersecretary to the government of India, G.K. Pillai.

Pillai has highlighted that the decision came after a meeting of the empowered group constituted under the Disaster Management Act.

The circular says, “Certain states have been found to be holding sufficient stocks of materials with them but the field functionaries have been reported to be functioning without such equipment. The state governments should ensure timely distribution of the key equipment to field functionaries timely.”