Ras Al Khaimah: Saqr Hospital's management has requested the police to set up a police station at its premises immediately, to protect physicians dealing with angry patients.
"We are in [an] urgent need for protection and the police should take the necessary action to provide the hospital with an organised police station within the premises," a senior official at the RAK Medical District, who requested anonymity, told Gulf News on Sunday.
The request was made after an angry Emirati father allegedly attacked an Egyptian orthopaedic consultant on Wednesday. He allegedly punched him in the face several times, leaving the consultant bleeding.
The official said that the consultant had operated on the Emirati's four-year-old daughter to fix a defect caused during delivery.
However, the operation was unsuccessful and the physician informed the father that he would need to perform another surgery. The official said that the father allegedly attacked the consultant for failure of the surgery.
Sources close to the father said that he took his daughter to a hospital in Sharjah and was informed that the surgery was botched up due to a medical mistake.
The sources said the father returned to Saqr Hospital, a government-run institution, to obtain a medical report for his daughter stating that a mistake had been committed, which the consultant refused to provide.
The father then lost his temper and allegedly attacked the doctor.
The hospital's management reported the incident to the police, launched an investigation and arrested the father. Police referred the case to the RAK Public Prosecution for further investigation.
The official said it was the hospital management and not the physician who had reported the case, as the latter was not authorised to contact official departments.
"We have officially requested the RAK Police to set up a police station in the premises of the hospital for better protection of the doctors who are currently avoiding contact with patients and their families for fear of such incidents," the official said.
In another incident, a general practitioner at the casualty department of Saqr Hospital was also attacked and seriously injured when the family of an injured person attacked him.
The official said that the hospital urgently needed a police station as fights and disputes occurred on an almost daily basis with knives being used in many instances.
Hospital management has demanded the Emirati father be made an example, and a tough penalty be imposed for the attack on the doctor.
The official said that the minister of health and the RAK local government have been notified about the incident. The injured doctor was given few days off.
