NEW DELHI: A video surfaced on social media showing a government doctor talking 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 were seen performing surgery on a patient. One of the doctors was heard saying, “It is not the first time that the electricity supply in 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 we will operate under such circumstances?”
The doctor questioned, “Will the doctors be responsible if anything happens to the patient?” In the video, a member of the team was seen manually ventilating the intubated patient during the power outage.
Union minister and BJP leader Ravneet Bittu took to X to target the AAP government. “The deteriorated condition of medical facilities and electricity — the two things AAP promised to improve — have been exposed in a very painful manner. A surgeon had to come on camera to issue a disclaimer that a patient might lose his life due to erratic electricity supply,” he posted.
Criticising the leadership, Bittu added, “The CM and his ministers have deserted Punjab and shifted 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 the Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, are multi-level (three hotlines) and functioning without any issue. Today, a local fault led to a momentary loss of electricity. The UPS and generator backup functioned seamlessly, and the surgery was conducted without any issue. The patient is recovering well,” he wrote on X.
“Unfortunately, a junior doctor panicked and recorded the video. The medical staff must remain focused on patient care at all times,” he added.
