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Medical officers association slams suspension of PG doctor in Chennai

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association (TNMOA) condemned the suspension of a second year PG doctor in the emergency medicine department, at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), for allegedly failing to triage a patient according to protocol. In the suspension order, Madras Medical College and RGGGH dean said the doctor was placed under suspension for seven days for failing to comply with the emergency patient algorithm related to examination and triaging of patients in the receiving area of the casualty department. The order was issued on November 19. TNMOA, in a statement, condemned the deans action and termed it illogical and hasty. The association also urged the director of medical education and research to immediately intervene, revoke the suspension order and form a fair inquiry panel to ascertain the actual sequence of events. Suspending a PG student who is still under training without establishing supervisory accountability is unwarranted, unfair and sets a dangerous precedent, it said. How can a PG trainee be held solely responsible for the unfortunate death of a patient, when a PG is a student expected to work strictly under supervision, the statement added. A senior doctor at the hospital said the PG doctor, without consulting superiors, shifted the patient to the ward from the emergency unit. The patient collapsed in the ward. She should have consulted a professor or seniors before making the decision, the doctor said.