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Hyderabad: Resident doctors at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) launched a flash strike on Thursday morning following an alleged incident in which a junior resident was verbally abused and threatened with physical violence by attendants of a patient.
Although an FIR was initially registered based on a personal complaint filed by the junior resident doctor, the NIMS Resident Doctors Association (RDA), which is leading the protest, has escalated the issue, demanding that the NIMS management file a case from its side.
The protesting resident doctors demanded enhanced workplace security and systemic accountability from the hospital management.
The alleged incident took place on Wednesday between 2.20 pm and 4.30 pm at the triage and ICUs on the first floor of the Emergency Medicine Department.
According to NIMS resident doctors, the junior doctor, Dr K Sreekanth, had promptly attended to a patient and advised necessary medical steps, including a neurology consultation, a CT head scan and Foley catheterisation. However, because Dr Sreekanth was simultaneously managing other critical emergency cases, a brief delay occurred in performing the catheterisation.
The delay apparently provoked the patient’s attendants, who began hurling verbal abuse and questioning the doctors’ salaries. According to junior residents, the attendants also threatened physical violence against Dr Sreekanth.
Later, security personnel and the duty RMO intervened to defuse the situation, after which Dr Sreekanth filed a written complaint with the RMO.
While a police case was registered, the RDA argued that an individual complaint by a lone resident was insufficient. The resident doctors’ core grievance centres on institutional apathy, pointing out that a similar assault occurred just two weeks earlier with inadequate administrative follow-up.
The association is demanding that NIMS management officially take responsibility, file formal institutional complaints and ensure comprehensive legal backing so that young doctors are not forced to fight legal battles entirely on their own.
With the ultimatum deadline passing, the RDA has moved forward with a boycott of elective and outpatient department (OPD) services. The protesting doctors have urged hospital authorities and the State government to implement robust, permanent security measures to guarantee a safe and dignified working environment for all medical professional.