Protect doctors: Violence dents their morale, impacts healthcare
The theme of this year’s National Doctors’ Day (July 1) is “Behind the Mask: Who Heals the Healers?” This question has become all the more important after a Shiv Sena corporator, Ramesh Mhatre, assaulted two doctors at a hospital in Maharashtra’s Thane district. Mhatre and his accomplices have been arrested, even as one of the aggrieved doctors has submitted his resignation after having received threatening phone calls and messages. A few months ago, doctors were attacked by patients or their relatives at hospitals in Bidar (Karnataka) and Bikaner (Rajasthan).
These incidents are symptomatic of a disturbing pattern in India’s healthcare system: doctors are expected to save lives while fearing for their own safety. The Thane episode also reveals the vulnerability of the medical staff to political intimidation. The attack was carried out in a fit of rage over the non-availability of a neonatal ICU bed. The doctors could not afford to make adjustments because a critically ill newborn already occupied the only available emergency bed. They even arranged for the patient’s transfer to another facility. Yet, frustration was directed at frontline health workers performing their duty under severe constraints. An FIR was registered only after widespread public outrage, video evidence that went viral and sustained pressure from the medical fraternity. The Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde has condemned the corporator’s misconduct and promised disciplinary action. However, justice will depend largely on whether the police are allowed to complete their probe without political interference.
Assaults on doctors and other staffers trigger strikes and disrupt hospital services, ultimately impacting patient care. India urgently needs a stronger legal framework to curb violence in healthcare facilities. Emphasis should also be laid on improved hospital security, faster investigation of such offences and greater public awareness about the realities of medical emergencies and resource limitations. A nation cannot expect its healers to serve fearlessly while leaving them defenceless.
