Shocked over incidents of government doctors being assaulted by patients’ attenders, the Madras High Court on Monday wanted to know from the State government if it was possible to deploy one or two policemen in every taluk-level hospital for the safety of the medical professionals serving there.
A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and V. Parthiban raised the issue during the hearing of a writ petition filed in May last year against a flash strike undertaken by doctors of the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital for about 15 days after a doctor was assaulted by the relatives of a patient. During the hearing on Monday, the senior judge told Government Pleader T.N. Rajagopalan that he had come across an incident recently of a doctor at Stanley hospital here having been slapped by the attender of an 85-year-old patient just because she writhed in pain on being administered an injection.
“You (government) have to ensure the safety of doctors. If this is the situation of doctors working in city hospitals, the position of those working in rural areas would be worse. Doctors are not Gods to give life. They can only give treatment. If these kind of violent incidents recur, they cannot serve properly,” the judge said.
