Several doctors and medical associations will organise protests and awareness campaigns on Monday against the repeated attacks on health care professionals and medical establishments. The most recent was the Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital incident.
Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, Ravindra, president of the Karnataka Government Medical Officers’ Association, said that sometimes after a patient dies, the patient’s friends or relatives harm doctors and staff and cause damage to the hospital. For every unavoidable hospital death, doctors should not be viewed as the culprits. If the patient’s attendants or friends feel that medical negligence is responsible for the death, they should fight legally in the court of law, he said.
He appealed to the government to strictly implement the Karnataka Prohibition of Violence Against Medicare Service Personnel and Damage to Property in Medicare Service Institutions Act, 2009.
Private Hospital and Nursing Homes’ Association (PHANA) president Nagendra Swamy S.C. said, “Doctors and health care providers are an important part of the community and are a pillar of the society. It is important that we ensure a safe and secure environment where they can give their best service to the public. We demand an effective enforcement of the existing Act and also action against the culprits.”
The protest will be held at Freedom Park from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
