Ghaziabad: MMG hospital staff stage sit-in protest over police misbehaviour

The protesting staff said the incident started around 8.30am when a police vehicle arrived with a patient from the police line, and the patient went inside the emergency room for treatment

The staff at the emergency department of the MMG district hospital in Ghaziabad on Tuesday staged a sit-in and protested the alleged misbehaviour of police staff after they were urged to shift their Gypsy away from the main gate of the emergency ward, officials said.

Officials said that the emergency has an inflow of about 100 patients on an average who generally arrive in ambulances or private vehicles for emergency treatment. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The protesting staff said the incident started around 8.30am when a police vehicle arrived with a patient from the police line, and the patient went inside the emergency room for treatment.

“When the woman patient went inside the emergency room, I requested the policeman (wearing a tracksuit) to move the vehicle away from the main gate of the emergency to make way for ambulances bringing in patients. The policeman did not budge. As it turned a verbal altercation on-duty doctor was informed. The doctor called police staff inside, but the latter started shouting at the staff and called other policemen,” said Narendra Singh, a staff member.

The emergency staff came out and staged a sit-in outside the emergency, raising slogans against the police.

Dr Rakesh Kumar, chief medical superintendent (CMS) of the hospital, said that the matter was also reported to senior police officers.

“The staff on duty was just asking to move away the police vehicle parked in front of the emergency’s main gate. It led to the issue. When we spoke to the senior police officials, they arrived, and the policemen regretted their mistake. While the protest was on, the work at the emergency did not suffer,” Kumar said.

Officials said that the emergency has an inflow of about 100 patients on an average who generally arrive in ambulances or private vehicles for emergency treatment.

Rajesh Kumar, DCP (city), said that the patient was brought to the hospital in a police vehicle.

“After the patient went in, the staff in the vehicle parked the Gypsy in front of the gate of the hospital emergency. We intervened, and the issue was resolved later. The erring police person was made to understand that it was wrong to park a vehicle in front of the gate. The matter got resolved later,” the DCP added.