After a series of attacks by patients attendants on Junior Residents at Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University,the administration has decided to recruit medical social workers to counsel attendants of critical patients. A training programme about Patient-Doctor relationship designed for Junior Doctors has also been rescheduled. We are planning to send a proposal to the government to create new positions for medical social workers as soon as possible, said Dr Abbas Ali Mahdi,Proctor,CSMMU. The five most sensitive centres in CSMMU where critical patients are admitted are Gandhi Ward,Trauma Centre,Larry Cardiology Centre,Department of Paediatrics and Queen Mary Hospital. We want medical social workers to be posted in all centres to talk to the attendants of critical patients, he said. The junior resident doctors,who also manage the job of the nurses due to staff scarcity,can hardly spare time for the attendants. The hospital plans to immediately create posts for Trauma Centre and Gandhi Ward from University funds and hopes that NGOs will pitch in. In November,junior doctors were assaulted thrice in the Gandhi Ward,forcing the administration to enforce rules like allowing only two attendants per patient and step up security.
