SMHS resident doctors suspend OPD after assault on specially-abled doctor

Srinagar, July 23: Resident doctors at Srinagar’s SMHS Hospital on Wednesday suspended their duties in both the OPD and emergency sections after a specially-abled non-local doctor was assaulted while on duty, triggering widespread condemnation from the medical fraternity.Officials at GMC Srinagar informed that they have taken serious note of the incident which occurred on July 22 in SMHS. The medical college has initiated necessary action as per law against the culprits.A CCTV video of the incident, showing a man slapping the doctor inside the hospital, has gone viral on social media, sparking widespread public outrage and intensifying the debate over the safety of healthcare workers.“FIR number 11/2025 dated 23/5/2025 has been lodged and police are handling the matter. Further action will follow. GMC & other hospitals are public assets dedicated to patient care and the healthcare staff working in the hospitals work tirelessly for patient care. We urge patients & attendants to cooperate with healthcare staff,” GMC Srinagar said in a post on X.The resident doctors held a massive protest outside the SMHS emergency on Wednesday, condemning the assault on their colleague and demanding strict action against the culprits. As part of their protest, they also suspended OPD and emergency services, which disrupted patient care and many patients reached back home without being treated.A group of attendants expressed anger, stating that their critically ill patients were not attended to despite the fact that they informed the doctors about the patients. “Doctors should not have gone on strike all of a sudden,” said Ishfaq Ahmad, an attendant from Srinagar.“We are just patients—we don’t know what’s happening inside the hospital. All we want is for our patients to be treated, whether in the OPD or emergency. Leaving emergency services unattended is an injustice to the patients. This shouldn’t happen in a hospital like this, which is the only hope for so many,” he said.Resident Doctors Association (RDA), GMC Srinagar and its Associated hospitals have condemned what they call the “brutal assault on our colleague in the emergency Department of SMHS Hospital.”“This is not just an assault on one individual, it is an assault on the dignity of every doctor who serves this system with dedication and compassion. It is an attack on the entire medical fraternity that continues to work in suffocating conditions, round the clock, with minimal protection and zero tolerance from the public,” the RDA said in a statement.It said the doctors make life-saving decisions under pressure, and deal with daily chaos. “Despite giving our blood, sweat, and sanity to the system, we are repaid with blows, abuse, and humiliation. This violence is not acceptable, not justifiable, and will not be tolerated.”The resident doctors have demanded immediate arrest of the culprits, with non-bailable charges under the applicable laws protecting healthcare workers.The doctor’s association has demanded deployment of adequate and trained security personnel in all critical care areas of the hospital, especially in emergency and ICU zones.“Strict enforcement of the one-attendant policy and legal action against violators are imperative. Resident doctors must be provided institutional support and legal protection if assaulted while on duty,” the RDA said.“It is tragic that while the world celebrates its doctors, in Kashmir we are forced to fight for the basic right to work without fear of violence. We remind the administration: your silence will be seen as complicity, and your inaction will only encourage more such incidents,” the statement said.Meanwhile, United Doctors Front, Jammu & Kashmir Chapter has condemned the incident, calling it an assault on human dignity, on the values of inclusion, and on every individual who still believes in compassion, duty, and justice.“Doctors are not soldiers in a battlefield but they are forced every day to work in environments of threat, abuse, and fear,” said Dr. Mir Waseem, National Joint Secretary UDF.It demanded the arrest of and prosecution of perpetrators involved in this shameful act. The UDF seeks enactment of a Doctor Protection Law in Jammu & Kashmir that makes violence against healthcare workers a non-bailable, cognizable offense.“Institutional reforms to ensure all government hospitals are equipped with CCTV surveillance, security personnel, and clear zero-tolerance protocols for any violence or obstruction of medical duties,” the association said.The UDF appealed to the Lieutenant Governor, Health Minister, and all legislative authorities to act not out of formality, but out of urgency and principle.The violence against doctors continues in hospitals across Jammu and Kashmir. This is the second incident at SMHS Hospital and third incident in a month in J&KOn July 07, a patient assaulted a doctor and his attendant inside the Surgical Emergency department of SMHS Hospital causing anger among doctors and staff.On July 16, a female junior doctor was physically assaulted at Govt. Medical College and Hospital (GMC&H), Jammu. Later, an FIR was registered at PS Bakshi Nagar.