With Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa's stay in hospital crossing a week, a doctor from the UK's London Bridge Hospital has been called to treat her. Sources said Dr Richard John Beale, an intensivist (a critical care physician) who has done research on sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome and clinical nutrition, arrived at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai on Thursday. Dr Beale held discussions with the doctors treating Jayalalithaa and advised a few more tests on the CM. On Friday, there was no medical bulletin from the hospital or the government.

Earlier, the hospital had said the CM was brought in on August 22 with complaints of fever and dehydration. On Thursday, a press release said she had responded well to the treatment and the requisite evaluation tests were being carried out. She was advised a few days' stay in hospital for recuperative treatment.

Meanwhile, Jayalalithaa's aide Sasikalaa has been staying at the hospital along with finance minister O Paneerselvam and a few senior bureaucrats, to tend to the CM.