How to reduce violence against Doctors

Ever wondered why Violence Against Doctors are on the rise?

In the past few years, more instances of violence against medical practitioners have come to light than probably in the entire last decade. With the rapid spread of information and growing awareness of instances both among the public and medical fraternity, this has created dissatisfaction on both sides, creating an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust on both the sides

Well this was the agenda of the Delhi Medical council, in its recent meeting with the resident doctors working with the government hospitals in the capital. Delhi Medical Council is in the process of developing on a white paper on assault against doctors and has invited participation from the Delhi Medical Assocaition, Indian Medical Association as well as  FORDA, an association of resident doctors working in the government hospitals in the capital.

As an outcome of the meeting, many important issues have been identified as key notes to deal with this problem.

1. Role of community-It was clear that over the years, expectations have increased. Everyone needs to understand that science has conquered a lot of things but not death. It is important everyone needs to understand that death is part of life. And health sector should be promoted in a positive manner. Few nuisance creators (wrong elements) have actually malign the profession.

2. Role of doctors-Not just patients, its doctors who also need to change their attitude. Time to time attendants must be counseled. The positive Image of a medical practitioner needs to be strengthened. All would agree by consensus that while the majority of the medical profession is pure but there are a few doctors bringing the bad name for all doctors. In hospitals, Senior doctors must be present in casualty to take care of any unexpected situation. A good counselling does a great job in patient satisfaction.

3. Quality of healthcare system is poor and needs to be improved- While the population growth has seen sharp growth in the past few decades, same has not been the case with healthcare institutions. Instances of attacks of doctors and staff occur, majorly on account of lack of sufficient infrastructure with the government hospitals, be it with the availability of ICU beds, ventilators, diagnostics test, medicine etc. It is important that the governments, both state and center, shift their focus in enhancing the quality of healthcare in the government setups of the country.

4. Role of media- Media plays an important role in bringing to light the happenings of the healthcare sector. In this light, it is imperative for the media to cover the positive news of the medical profession from time to time and not do media trial of the profession all the time.

5. Role of police- In cases of Violence in healthcare organisations, the police needs to act swiftly. The police  must instill confidence among the society and doctors even and strictly enforce the law in non partisan manner. First and foremost, they must act as crime prevention agency.

6. Role of politicians- They must not back the bad elements of the society. Instead they must explain them about the possible outcomes. Many government doctors have pointed out of the VIP culture persistent in the government hospitals, with many cases of violence across the country being reported with the involvement of kins with political clout. It is imperative that there should be a political will to bring about congenial environment which helps both doctor and patient and there relationship.

7. Role of DMC- The Delhi Medical council has taken up the issue at a deeper level. Dr. Arun Gupta President DMC said " DMC is always trying to make the doctor patient relationship better for the society. To achieving this goal we have had 2 meeting with various stakeholders seeking there inputs in helping us formulate guidelines to avoid assault on doctors. while we are formulating the guidelines to address the issue at hand, I appeal to the people of Delhi not to attack or misbehave with doctors as they are for your service only."