India: Doctor stabbing reignites debate on hospital security months after doctor rape and murder

New Delhi
CNN
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Knife attack on doctor India It has reignited a heated debate about whether enough is being done to protect medical staff in the often crowded and overcrowded hospital wards of the world’s most populous country.

Last week, thousands of doctors went on strike and closed private hospitals and clinics in the southern city of Chennai after a doctor was stabbed while on duty.

Local police said oncologist Balaji Jaganathan was allegedly attacked by a relative of a patient who was unhappy with his mother’s treatment. It was stated that the doctor survived the attack and his condition was stable.

KM Abdul Hasan, president of the Indian Medical Association in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, told CNN: “How do we treat patients if we don’t know if we can get out safely ourselves?” Doctors went on strike on November 14 to demand the safety of healthcare workers at work.

Earlier this summer, thousands of doctors across the country went on strike and protested for weeks. Intern doctor raped and murdered In July in the eastern city of Kolkata.

Their main demand at the time was a federal law known as the Central Protection Act (CPA) to protect doctors and medical staff in their workplaces. Doctors say the stabbing incident in Tamil Nadu has once again highlighted the need for such a law and the need for stricter safety measures to protect healthcare workers.

In recent weeks, CNN spoke with nearly a dozen doctors who reported a hostile work environment and lack of safety. Many doctors work in the capital, New Delhi, but they say things are much worse in remote health centres.

A survey published in August after the trainee doctor was killed showed that 78% of healthcare workers reported being threatened while on duty.

While 63 percent stated that they did not feel safe while working the night shift, those working in public hospitals or community health centers stated that they felt more unsafe than those working in private hospitals. The survey received 1,566 responses from doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals across the country.

“Any doctor can tell you about many incidents where he was verbally abused or worse, this is to be expected for us,” said a doctor at a Delhi hospital, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions at work for speaking to the media.

In July, while the doctor was on duty at a government hospital in Delhi, a simple baby delivery turned into a complicated procedure, putting the mother in danger.

An elderly female relative began screaming as monitors beeped and the doctor rushed to resuscitate her. The Delhi-based doctor said what happened next left the staff traumatized.

Dozens of armed men burst into the birthing area reserved for patients and their female relatives, and many women gave birth naked.

The men, who claimed to be relatives of the patient, started shouting, destroying equipment and attacking doctors. Despite the attacks, the team tried to resuscitate the patient until there was nothing else they could do.

“The doctors ran and hid in the duty room but they even broke into there,” said the Delhi-based doctor.

Doctors at the hospital later asked for more security personnel and metal detectors, but their requests went unanswered, the doctor said.

The murder of the trainee doctor in Kolkata occurred while he was working the night shift and briefly closed his eyes in a seminar room at RG Kar medical college and hospital.

A civilian volunteer at the hospital is accused of rape and murder and his case is ongoing.

Indian law requires protecting the identity of a rape victim. He was given the nickname “Abhaya”, meaning fearless, and his case is the latest to fuel growing anger in India. widespread violence against women.

But it also encouraged doctors to call for better protection.

“It could have been any of us, we have no choice but to protest because if we don’t speak up now, when; It can’t get any worse than this,” said doctor Anwesha Banerjee, a medical student from the same class as Abhaya, who also wanted to use a pseudonym.

This incident brought doctors from across the country to the streets and united in their demand for stronger laws to protect doctors.

India’s Supreme Court has registered a case over the rape and murder of a Calcutta trainee doctor and constituted a national working group to recommend measures to improve safety in hospitals.

However, the task force opposed the doctors’ main demand for a new law, arguing that India’s criminal code already has sufficient legislation.

Following the doctors’ strike in August, India’s Ministry of Health set up a subcommittee to help the task force “recommend all possible measures to ensure the safety of healthcare workers.”

The task force outlined measures to improve security, such as installing more CCTV cameras, providing transport at night and providing better workrooms for staff. But doctors say they now want concrete action.

In Tamil Nadu, Hasan said, “We need actual implementation of the measures, we need both state and central governments to take action… guidelines cannot help until they are implemented.”

CNN has reached out to India’s Ministry of Health for comment.

Following the murder in Kolkata, the local West Bengal government issued a notification saying that female doctors should avoid night duty.

But it prompted a rebuke from one of India’s most senior judges, who cited the country’s equality laws, and sparked fresh anger among doctors.

“Instead of protecting us and creating a safer working environment, if you restrict our ability to work, it will further disadvantage us, it will go against the principle of what we want,” Banerjee said in Kolkata.

The Delhi-based doctor said that although he does not live too far from his hospital, it is located in an unsafe area, especially at night.

“We do not have transportation to get to the hospital and the hostels are not well maintained, so we do not prefer to stay on campus,” he said.

The doctor to population ratio in India is 1 to 834, India’s health minister told parliament in February, citing the Ministry of Health. This exceeds the World Health Organization’s standard of 1 to 1000.

But doctors say the problem lies in the lack of hospitals in India’s rural areas and second-tier cities. As a result, people have to travel long distances for treatment, and these hospitals bear the burden of treating those with serious illnesses.

These stresses were particularly acute during the coronavirus pandemic, when India was hit by a particularly devastating second wave.

Recent attacks on doctors have further increased the feeling that not enough is being done to protect them.

“With everything that has happened, we have lost our sense of security, the hospital used to be ours, we owned it, that is not the case anymore,” the Delhi-based doctor said.