No night duty for house surgeons; committee formed to study issues raised by protesters

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It has been decided to form a committee headed by the Secretary of the Medical Education Department to study and resolve the issues raised by the PG students and house surgeons following the murder of Dr. Vandana Das. The health minister gave the instructions to the officials in this regard in a discussion held with the PG students and house surgeons.
The government accepted the demands such as cancelling night duty for house surgeons until the completion of a safety audit and properly allowing one day off per week. While two bystanders will be allowed in ICU, only one bystander will be allowed in the wards, the minister said. The committee will submit its report within a month. The minister also said that the AOP will be issued soon for those going to other hospitals as part of the medical residency program.The committee will also look into the issues of house surgeons and strictly implement the residency manual. DME will issue a circular for this urgently. The minister also directed that the heads of the departments should ensure the leave of the students. The minister, who said that the government is with the doctors, added that the doctors should not protest in a way that causes difficulties to the people.