Kalyan MP tables private bill in Lok Sabha to curb attacks on doctors

Last week, Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde tabled a private bill in Lok Sabha demanding imprisonment of six months to five years against those who attack doctors in hospitals and also a fine of Rs 5,000 to Rs 5 lacs for damaging hospital property. While Thane doctors have welcomed this move, they say a QRT team should also be stationed at government hospitals to ensure the safety of doctors.

On June 29, 2018, a gynaecologist was attacked at Thane Civil Hospital by the relatives of a woman who delivered a baby there. While the woman was anemic and had undergone blood transfusion, the child weighed just 1 kg. Hence, the doctor advised the family to shift the baby to JJ hospital in Mumbai which has a neo-natal ward. The woman's relatives stormed into the labor ward and manhandled the doctor and abused her.

"After that incident, the lady doctor was traumatised and had to go on long leave. She was depressed for some time and now has resumed work," says Dr Kailash Pawar, civil surgeon, Thane Civil Hospital (TCH). "We filed a police complaint against the attackers who were also jailed. But such acts are not good as they affect the morale of the doctors," said Pawar.

Hence, to curb such acts, Shinde tabled a private bill in Loksabha on December 28. "The spate of such attacks have increased in the recent years as patients question the doctor's motives and attack them," Shinde said. "And the police and the administration have failed to book them and bring them to justice," he adds.

In the bill, he has asked the attackers to be subjected to imprisonment of five months to six years and a fine of Rs 5,000 up to Rs 5 lakhs. "In case the attackers do not have the capacity to pay the fine, then their property should be seized," he said. The bill also fixes the responsibility upon the doctors to inform the patient and their relatives in writing about the course of treatment, its pros and cons, any risks involved etc.

Pawar said that such a bill is a necessity as these attacks have discouraged many practitioners and have made them give up their practice. "Though after Kerala, Maharashtra is the second state to have reduced maternal mortality, 90 per cent of the attacks are on gynaecologists," says Pawar. "There are cases where doctors are scared to take up cases emergency treatment fearing a violent backlash from patients' relatives. If this happens then the death rate will also increase as more doctors will move out of their jobs," warns Pawar.

Moreover, there should also be permanent security at the hospitals to thwart off such violent acts. "Since the police also take time to reach the hospital, a quick response team at the hospital should be placed to take care of such situations," he adds.

Another doctor from Kalyan who does not wish to be named, however, says that these attacks are at times an angry outburst against the system. "The callous attitude of doctors in government hospitals and continuous negligence which at times leads to loss of life leads to such attacks," she said.