“Laws are needed but it is not enough,’’ said the Indian Medical Association (IMA) reacting to the Health Ministry’s proposed draft Bill which states that anyone who attacks a doctor at a hospital may be jailed for up to 10 years or fined ₹10 lakh.
The Ministry has asked for feedback from the public on how to improve the draft Healthcare Service Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property) Bill, 2019, which was made public earlier this week.
The Association said: “Violence on doctors and hospitals is a complex phenomenon and will require multidimensional institutional response. A law for deterrence alone might not have the desired impact.’’
Dr. R.V. Asokan of the IMA said: “We have requested that the government declare hospitals as safe zones with structured security. It is also our considered opinion that inadequacies of infrastructure and human resources in public sector and out of pocket expenditure in the private sector are the root causes of violence.’’
He said high expectations, lack of understanding of limitations, patient load, and lack of professional counselling are all contributory factors. Such determinants of violence also have to be addressed comprehensively, he added.
Other doctors maintained that lack of infrastructure and inadequate allocation of budget towards health, stagnation of recruitment and exponential deterioration of the health delivery system has created this situation.
“Shortage of doctors is a hard reality and both patients and doctors are suffering,’’ said a senior government doctor in Delhi. He added that there are no short-cuts but to invest in the health care system and fill existing vacancies.
Dr. Manoj Luthra, CEO, Jaypee Hospital, Noida said doctors very much understand the value of our profession and families’ emotions.
“We do our best to save lives; sometimes we put even our personal lives at stake for the sake of our profession. But the same level of basic understanding should come from the patient’s family as well. They must understand that it is not entirely in our hands to save lives. Rather we can only give the best treatment to the patients. Incidents where doctors are being killed or lynched are very unfortunate. Considering the provision of this draft, it is appreciable as it will ensure at least a basic sense of security for our dedicated working doctors,’’ he said.
“How irrational it is that a doctor treating patients is not safe. We are also equal citizens and doing our job. There are police and administration to act, if anybody goes beyond law. One should approach them in case of grievance, instead of ruining law and order,’’ said Dr. Anand Bansal, medical director, Action Group of Hospitals.
Meanwhile, the IMA has written to the Prime Minister stating that the safety and security of the hospitals have to be ensured in the interest of the patients.
“It is not possible to provide quality treatment to the public in an atmosphere of fear and violence. Violence in the hospitals will only increase the sufferings of the patients. As a matter of fact the IMA has been engaging the Central Government on this issue through an Inter Ministerial Committee right from 2015,’’ it said.
