Rising cases of assault on doctors by patients’ kin

The recent cases of violence against medical professionals, including instances in Dhule and Mumbai’s Sion hospital where relatives of patients attacked their respective doctors-in-charge – have been in the news. Thousands of doctors in Mumbai and New Delhi are on strike, and both doctors and patients are suffering.

Tribune staffer Charu Chhibber speaks to senior health care professionals from the city’s premier institutes to know their take on the rising incidents of assault on medical professionals and how they can be curbed.

QUOTES

There should be no assault on any person. We, at the PGI, strongly condemn all kinds of physical assault be it on a doctor, nurse, technician or any other individual. We fully support the members of the medical fraternity in their cause against such cases. There is an urgent need for the general public to understand that all medical professionals work so hard to ensure quality service to all patients but at times, circumstances are not in their hands. They do not harm their patients deliberately. The government, on its part, should made stringent laws to deal with all such cases with an iron hand and give exemplary punishment to those who indulge in these things. —Dr Jagat Ram, director, PGI

Doctors must feel safe so that they can treat their patients in best possible way without being under any stress. For this the government must make appropriate acts for the protection of medical fraternity and which acts as a deterrent to these senseless assaults on doctors who work hard and tirelessly in difficult conditions. People must realise that doctors are not Gods; they are just human beings who put in their best efforts, knowledge and experience to save the lives of fellow human beings. —Dr Rakesh K Kashyap, Director, health services, Chandigarh

It is extremely unfortunate that people take law into their own hands like this. It is important to understand that no health care professional allows something to go wrong willingly. Every medical professional puts in his/ her best efforts to save lives but there are other factors at play and people do lose lives in hospitals. Such incidents are not just demoralising for the members of the medical fraternity but also condemnable. People have to be educated that no doctor will ever harm his/ her patient intentionally. Apart from that, adequate security arrangements have to be made at all health care institutions so that these things don’t happen. —Dr Atul Sachdev, director-principal, GMCH-32

Indulging in such cases is absolutely wrong on the part of the general public. Medical professionals go beyond the call of duty. Many times they go without food, sleep or rest to save lives. Assaulting them is totally uncalled for. It is shocking that such incidents are happening in civilised society. The government should make such incidents cognisable offence. —Dr AK Gupta, medical superintendent, PGI

Such incidents are highly condemnable. No health care professional does deliberate harm to his patient. We fully support the protestors in their demand for security. Institutions have their own security arrangements yet these incidents keep happening. The government should make stricter laws to deal with such cases only then they can be curbed. Many countries take a very strict view of such incidents and assaulter can be jailed for a period up to 14 years. If our government makes such incident punishable crimes, they will certainly decline. —Dr Sudheer Garg, Head, department of orthopaedics, GMCH-32

We condemn the rising incidents of assault on the members of the medical fraternity. The primary reason for such incidents is that doctors are soft targets because we have no power. And then there is the VIP culture. Everyone - be it ministers, bureaucrats or public figures - demands to be given preferential treatment by the doctors. But when it comes to taking a stance against such cases, no one comes forward. Last year, when our resident doctor was assaulted by the kin of a patient, the resident doctors had to resort to protest to ensure security on PGI campus. That time, no one came forward to condemn the incident or support the doctor. The media, too, sympathises with the attacker who has lost a kin, without realising that the doctor in question did not harm the patient deliberately. The government should take strict action so that such incidents do not take place otherwise students will have to think twice before choosing to become a doctor. —Dr TD Yadav, president, PGI Faculty Association

Such incidents are extremely unfortunate. The health care professionals go beyond their duty to ensure their patients’ welfare, still such things are happening. There should be security provision for all health care professionals, who are vulnerable because of the nature of their job. Institutions must also ensure all safety measures are in place. Apart from that, I feel the younger generation of medical professionals, too, must be given lessons to deal with mob and such difficult situations. And in case any such incident occurs, the government must take suitable action against those who are committing these crimes. —Dr Virendra Singh, faculty member, department of hepatology, PGI