Opposing the FIR against Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, the Delhi Medical Association (DMA) has called it a “highly condemnable” and “demoralising” for the entire medical fraternity. In a press release, DMA has questioned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s warning to doctors and threats to hospitals for admission and testing of Covid patients, stating that doctors risking their lives amidst the pandemic to save lives are being made to feel insulted.
The press release says: “Ganga Ram hospital and its doctors who have saved lakhs of lives in the last decades are being penalised and threatened. Every Covid care should have dedicated testing lab facilities.”
DMA seeks to form a coordination committee to supervise management of Covid crisis in the national capital, and availability of more testing facilities. It has advised smooth and timely transfer of severely sick patients to higher tertiary care centres and the appointment of nodal officers for each area to facilitate overall functioning of Covid care.
This press release follows the Kejriwal government’s move to file an FIR against the medical superintendent of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Rajinder Nagar for not following protocol to test patients with Covid-19. FIR was based on a complaint by the Deputy Secretary of Delhi’s department of health and family welfare, Amit Kumar Pamasi. On 3 June, the hospital was asked to stop Covid-19 testing, claiming violation of ICMR guidelines.