Doctor caught on camera twice beating a heart patient after surgery

A BRUTAL doctor was caught on camera twice BEATING a heart patient after surgery as he lay tied to an intensive care bed.

The ill man died soon afterwards and the medic blamed the frenzied attack on his being exhausted after a busy 24-hour shift.

Police are now probing doctor Andrey Votyakov - who previously had an unblemished record - for the assault on the unidentified middle-aged patient soon after his operation at a hospital in Perm, in Russia's Urals region.

The shocking 30-second video clearly shows a verbal argument between a doctor and the restrained patient at the Federal Cardio-Surgery Centre in the industrial city.

Then the medic - still in his surgical scrubs - hits out, striking the patient on the head then near his heart.

He was evidently unaware that the assault - which has now cost him his job - was being filmed on a camera focused on the intensive care bed.

Votyakov claimed: "It was a hard day after a 24 hour shift."

The chief of the prestigious hospital's anaesthesiology and intensive care department was responding soon after the footage went viral on the Russian web.

He added: "As soon as I came into the room with my team he

started to call me various derogative names.

"And I just got blown away by it.

"We had spent so much time with his very complicated case to help him recover and he said not a single word of gratitude.

"And then the chronic tiredness added to it. I got carried away, and I punched him several times at the presence of my colleagues"

The footage does not show any other doctors or nurses seeking to intervene.

Votyakov added: "We continued the treatment after the incident, but sadly the patient died.

"I am very sorry for what happened and I want to apologise first of all to the patient himself and his family."

The attack happened in February and the footage was recently made public.

The patient was a man aged "over 45" from the Kirov region. There has been no comment so far from his grieving family.

Votyakov's boss Sergey Sukhanov has sacked him.

A police spokesman in Perm said: "We saw the video which went on youtube. We are investigating it and checking the details of what happened."

It is understood senior investigators have already visited the hospital and quizzed staff, seeking to understand if the beatings were the direct cause of death.

"We aim to take all relevant documents and question all members of medical team," said a police spokesman.

Investigators were also "checking if the medical help after the attack was given on the highest level."

"I watched the video on youtube and immediately reported it," said chief of public affairs at the Russian Interior Ministry in Perm region, Artur Gainanov.

There were predictions that the doctor will face jail and ruin over his attack, though it is so far unclear what charges he may face.