EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Mar 10: At a time when the crucial Cardiac Centre of Government Medical College Jammu is coming up in terms of availability of treatment for heart ailments here and reducing the dependence of patients on hospitals outside the state, a controversy that has enveloped the Department of late is depriving the poor patients of the facilities they require in time.
According to sources, the routine functioning of the Department has been affected as no surgeries related to heart ailments have taken place, not even normal treatment has been prescribed to patients coming from far and wide during the past few days. This is so because a senior doctor Dr Susheel Sharma, consultant with super speciality in the subject has gone on protest leave reportedly after an 'unpleasant response ' amounting to 'misbehaviour' he had to face from a doctor junior to him when the former tried to curb alleged indiscipline and unpunctuality of the latter in performing his duties.
Sources said Dr Susheel Sharma, who is in the Department for the last over 10 years and Dr Dharminder Kumar who is not only junior but fresh to the Department (having been selected for the post of lecturer by PSC in Medicine) had a brush over the matter of performance of duties in the Hospital. They had a brush reportedly when the HOD Dr Mohan Lal was away in Chandigarh to attend a conference, when Dr Sharma pointed out Dr Dharminder's absence and taking note of his alleged irregular presence asked him to be in the Department in the larger interests of the patients. However, Dr Dharminder instead of responding properly, reportedly misbehaved and said that he was answerable to the HOD on all matters and not to him.
Sources said even as the senior consultant tried to make the other doctor explain the need to work in a team under a congenial atmosphere, given the crucial and vital nature of the work in this sensitive department, the latter did not budge. Dr Sharma also raised the matter in a meeting called for the purpose in front of HOD Dr Mohan Lal during which Dr Dharminder again took up the skirmish on not being accountable to him. Since Dr Sharma did not find, support from the authorities, this prompted him to go on leave.The HOD reportedly did not utter any word, not to speak of any action against the doctor for creating fracas in the meeting as well, sources added.
"The matter has come to my knowledge but I have conveyed that since it was the internal matter of the Department it needed to be dealt with by the HOD……I have also conveyed to HOD to ask the erring doctor to tender an apology for having misbehaved with his senior……..the issue will sorted out as we all want a healthy and cordial atmosphere besides discipline in all the Departments", said Dr Rajinder Singh, Principal Medical College, Jammu. HOD, Dr mohan Lal could not make himself available, despite having contacted many times on phone.
It may be mentioned the Department at present has two senior doctors-Dr Mohan Lal and Dr Sharma both of whom have specialization in carrying out the surgeries including angioplasty. Pace makers ……..The other two doctors have been brought as a matter of internal adjustment from the Medicine as there was shortage of manpower in dealing with rush of patients. The matter making only patients to suffer, has erupted ironically when the Health ministry is making loud assertions on need to have super specialists in the Hospital at all costs.