Working hours and Mental Stress: Human Rights Panel calls for protection of Doctors after medico files complaint against HOD Anaesthesia

Kozhikode: While considering the plea by a postgraduate medical student of GMC Kozhikode, who failed handling job-related stress and challenges during the pandemic, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) has recently directed the senior doctors to protect students against possible mental-health issues.

Such a direction was issued by the judicial member of the Commission K. Baijunath while the Commission was considering the plea filed by a third year PG student belonging to the institute.

The PG medico had filed the plea against the Head of the Department (HoD) of Anaesthesiology.

After the HoD explained that the student might have problem with the working hours during the pandemic, the complaint was finally disposed off by the Commission, which did not find any deliberate human rights violation. However, the Commission opined that the mental stress of the student might had been increased due to the difficulties faced by the healthcare workers during the pandemic.

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As per the latest media report by The Hindu, after the KSHRC started considering the plea, the Head of the Anesthesiology department submitted his explanation and opined that the complainant student might have been unhappy with the job schedule during the pandemic period.

Further submitting that he was unable to intervene in the exams conducted by the Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS), the HoD also pointed out to the Commission that faculties from other medical colleges supervise the practical exams.

Denying the allegation that the students were being deliberately failed in the exams, the HoD also referred to the fact that the consent of the medical board was required for exempting anyone from the duty during the pandemic period.

Pointing out that the complainant student had not obtained the approval of the board for this purpose, the HoD submitted that despite being medically examined after noticing the symptoms of asthma, it was found that the medico did not have asthma.