What will the National Task Force do? Here are Health Ministry's terms of reference

New Delhi: The National Task Force, constituted by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, shall frame effective recommendations to remedy the issues of concern regarding safety, working conditions, and well-being of medical professionals and other related matters.

This 15-member committee, comprising nine senior doctors and five ex-officio government officials, shall prepare an action plan to prevent violence against medical professionals and provide safe working conditions for them.

Further, it will provide an enforceable national protocol for dignified and safe working conditions for interns, residents, senior residents, doctors, nurses, and all medical professionals, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare mentioned in an Office Memorandum issued yesterday.

To prevent violence against healthcare workers, the NTF's job will be to ensure due security in medical establishments, provide a framework for infrastructural development- such as separate duty rooms and restrooms for male/female doctors, nurses, gender-neural common resting space, use of bio-metric or facial recognition for entry to sensitive areas, installing CCTVs, provision of transport from place of stay to place of duty and vice versa.

The Task Force will also work on grief and crisis counselling at all medical establishments, set up "Employees Safety Committees", and establish police posts in medical facilities etc.

Regarding the second part of the action plan i.e. providing a national protocol for dignified and safe working conditions for healthcare workers, the NTF shall work on prevention of sexual violence against medical professionals.

The NTF members include Surgeon Vice Admiral Dr. Arti Sarin, Dr. D Nageshwar Reddy, Managing Director of the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Dr. M Srinivas, Director of AIIMS Delhi, Dr. Prathima Murthy from NIMHANS Bangalore, Dr. Goverdhan Dutt Puri, Director of AIIMS Jodhpur, Dr. Saumitra Rawat, Managing Member of Gangaram Hospital, Prof Anita Saxena, Vice Chancellor of Pandit BD Sharma College, Dr. Pallavi Sapre, Dean of Grant Medical College, Mumbai, and Dr. Padma Srivastav from the Neurology Department of AIIMS.

Apart from them, there are five ex-officio members including the Cabinet Secretary of the Government of India (GOI), who will be the Chairperson of the National Task Force, Home Secretary of GOI, Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Member Secretary), Chairperson of the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the President of the National Board of Examinations (NBE).

The Union Health Ministry announced the constitution of the NTF through an Office Memorandum dated 21.08.2024, adding that the NTF shall submit an interim report within three weeks and the final report within two months from the date of the Order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, dated 20/08/2024.

Action Plan of the National Task Force: 

The NTF shall prepare an action-plan categorized under two heads-

(1) Prevention of violence against medical professionals and providing safe working conditions:

a. Ensuring due security in medical establishments:

i. Training departments and places within the hospital based on the degree of volatility and the possibility of violence. Areas such as the emergency rooms and the Intensive Care Units are prone to a greater degree of violence and may possibly need additional security in place to deal with any untoward incident;

ii. A baggage and person screening system at every entrance of the hospital to ensure that arms are not carried inside the medical establishment;

iii. Preventing intoxicated persons from entering the premises of the medical establishment, unless they are patients; and

iv. Training security personnel employed at Hospitals to manage crowds and grieving persons.

b. Infrastructural development:

i. Provision of separate resting rooms and duty rooms in each Department for

(a) male doctors;

(b) female doctors;

(c) male nurses;

(d) female nurses; and

(e) a gender-neutral common resting space. The room must be well-ventilated, have sufficient bed spaces, and provide a facility for drinking water. Access to these rooms must be restricted through installation of security devices;

ii. Adopting appropriate technological intervention to regulate access to critical and sensitive areas including through use of bio-metric and facial recognition;

iii. Ensuring adequate lighting at all places in the hospital and, if it is a hospital attached to a medical college, all places within the campus;

iv. Installation of CCTV cameras at all the entrance and exit points of the hospitals, and the corridors leading up to all patient rooms; and

v. If the hostels or rooms of the medical professionals are away from the hospital, provision of transport between 10 pm to 6 am to those who wish to travel to or from their place of stay to the Hospital.

Grief and Crisis Counselling: 

c. Employment of social workers trained in grief and crisis counselling at all medical establishments;

d. Conducting workshops for all employees of medical establishments including doctors, nurses and helpers on handling grief and crisis;

Employees Safety Committees: 

e. Constitution of “Employees Safety Committees” composed of doctors, interns, residents and nurses at every medical establishment to conduct quarterly audits on institutional safety measures;

f. Including additional requirement(s) on institutional safety measures for medical professionals as a criteria for accreditation of healthcare establishments by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers; and

Police Posts in Medical Facilities: 

g. The possibility of establishing police posts in medical facilities commensurate with the footfall, bed strength and facilities.

(2) Providing an enforceable national protocol for dignified and safe working conditions for interns, residents, senior residents, doctors, nurses and all medical professionals:

Prevention of sexual violence against medical professionals:

a. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 applies to hospitals and nursing homes (including private health providers). In terms of the provisions of the Act, an Internal Complaints Committee must be constituted in all hospitals and nursing homes;

b. The duties of an employer listed under Section 19 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 which includes organizing sensitization programmes and providing a safe working space must be discharged; and

c. Ensuring for every medical institution a helpline number for medical professionals which is open 24 x 7 and emergency distress facilities.

Through the OM, the Ministry clarified that the phrase medical professionals encompasses every medical professional including doctors, medical students who are undergoing their compulsory rotating medical internship (CRMI) as a part of the MBBS course, resident doctors and senior resident doctors and nurses (including those who are nursing interns).

"The NTF shall be at liberty to make recommendations on all aspects of the action-plan and any other aspects, which the members seek to cover. NTF would be at liberty to make additional suggestions, where appropriate. The NTF shall also suggest appropriate timelines for the implementation of the recommendations. The NTF may consult relevant stake-holders in this regard," it clarified.

Further, the OM mentioned, "The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will provide logistical support including making arrangements for travel, stay and secretarial assistance and bear the travel expenses and other related expenses of the members of the NTF."

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the Supreme Court bench comprising the Chief Justice of India constituted the National Task Force after taking suo-motu cognizance of the RG Kar murder and rape case amid the massive outrage and protests by doctors all across the country demanding justice. The doctors and healthcare workers across India are also demanding proper measures to ensure their safety at their workplaces.

Also Read: Breaking News on RG Kar Case: Supreme Court Constitutes National Task Force to draft Action plan for Safety of Doctors