Doctors deserve anxiety-free work atmosphere
The midway withdrawal of strike called by the state’s doctors as a mark of protest against the infamous incident of physical assault and vandalism at a private hospital in the ICR after a written assurance from the State Health Minister that the assaulters will be booked deserves appreciation. Doctors, be it in Arunachal Pradesh or anywhere in the country never believe in the philosophy of calling strikes. However, when things cross all limits, the drastic step has to be taken as that has happened in the current case. The issue of patients expiring due to alleged medical negligence on part of doctors is universally sensitive and India is perhaps the only country that sees its regular occurrence. It will be a utopian way of thinking that such things will never occur, however, they can be curtailed to a great extent if genuine efforts are made in reinforcing the culture of mutual trust and confidence that has existed between patients’ relatives and doctors for so long and unfortunately seen a decline in recent days.
There will be scores of examples to corroborate the fact that doctors across the country have been labelled as ‘killers’ for their so-called medical negligence and during the ongoing pandemic, the trend has taken epidemic proportions. Physical assault has been most common and it can be recalled that a senior doctor was even stabbed by the relatives of a Covid patient suffering from comorbidities in Maharashtra’s Latur in July 2020, sending shock waves across the country’s medical fraternity. For any doctor treating such critical patients, Covid-related or otherwise, a regular repetition of such incidents creates a huge psychological pressure that eventually hampers efficient discharge of professional duties. And it’s unfortunate that the atmosphere which is similar to working under an invisible gun point is enlarging across the country. Certainly, there are genuine cases of negligence on part of medical practitioners which no doctors’ association can deny. Just like any other profession, the noble profession of medical science has seen the entry of unethical individuals. However, for a few erring ones, the entire fraternity doesn’t deserve to be labelled as ‘villains’. One mustn’t miss the statistics that there is a perennial shortage of doctors in the country and for 1456 patients there is just one, as against WHO recommendation of 1:1000. The immediate consequence is sustained work pressure, now joined by a feeling of frustration and deep insecurity arising out of recurring incidents of ‘mishandlings’. No surprise that hospital violence has topped as the worst form of workplace violence in India.
The state government mustn’t hesitate to apply the AP Protection of Medical Service Personnel and Medical Service Institutions Act, 2019 not only in this case, but also all those arising in future.
Kenter Joya Riba
(Managing Editor)
She is a graduate in Science with post-graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
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