New Delhi: A video surfaced on social media showing a government doctor speaking about the challenges amid a power outage during surgery at Rajindra Hospital in Punjab’s Patiala.
In the nearly one-minute video, a team of doctors was seen performing surgery on a patient. One of the doctors was heard saying, “This is not the first time that the power supply at the main emergency of the Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala has been erratic. It has been a few minutes since the power shutdown and how will we operate under such circumstances?
The doctor questioned, “Will doctors be responsible if something happens to the patient?” In the video, a team member was seen manually ventilating the intubated patient during the blackout.
Union minister and BJP leader Ravneet Bittu took X to attack the AAP government. “The deteriorated condition of medical facilities and electricity, the two things that AAP promised to improve, have been exposed in a very painful way. A surgeon had to come to the chamber to issue a disclaimer that a patient could lose his life due to erratic electricity supply,” he posted.
Criticizing the leadership, Bittu added: “The CM and his ministers have abandoned Punjab and moved to Delhi just to please their dictator Kejriwal. But at what cost?”
Responding to the incident, Punjab Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh defended the state’s infrastructure. “The power backup systems at Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, are multi-level (three direct lines) and are working without any problem. Today, a local fault led to momentary loss of electricity. The UPS backup and the generator worked no problems and the surgery was performed without any problems.
“Unfortunately, a junior doctor panicked and recorded the video. “Medical staff must remain focused on patient care at all times,” he added.