'How Can Doctors Work In Insecurity?': Kerala High Court Seeks Report On Safety Of Hospital Staff After Attack On Doctor

The Kerala High Court on Friday (October 10) orally directed the state government to submit a report to ensure the safety of doctors, medical personnel and all attendant staff in hospitals. The observation was made in the light of a recent attack on a doctor in Kozhikode. He was attacked using a sharp weapon by the father of a girl, who died of amoebic fever and was treated by the doctor.Division Bench comprising Justice Devan Ramachandran and Dr. Justice Kauser Edappagath orally observed:"That is why we are sitting today. This was a shock to us. This was a clear shock to us. We do not know how doctors can ever work in a sense of insecurity...Gruesome incident actually. An attack on doctor to kill. We can understand somebody acting in a fit of passion. For somebody who plans everything and comes in, it is essential that you cannot allow weapons or sharp objects to be brought in. We want the government to give us a response."During the hearing, Dr. Rajeev Joshi, appearing in person on behalf of MedicoLegal Society of India, suggested that guidelines should be in place to ensure that sharp objects and dangerous weapons are not brought inside the hospital. He referred to a direction issued by the Guwahati High Court and submitted that bringing weapons inside hospitals itself should be an offence.The senior counsel S. Gopakumaran Nair appearing for the Indian Medical Association suggested that the entire campus of all government hospitals should be enclosed and protected with only one entry and one exit. It was further proposed that at the entry point there must be effective security, even with uniformed police, like in the offices of central agencies.However, the Court did not think such a suggestion was feasible. It orally remarked:"How many people walk into the High Court a day and how many people walk into a Government Hospital? Make a comparison. It will be 10 times this, easily. That is because we have a confined space...But this is a case where, this man, possibly, was not even concerned about the consequences. He was consumed by so much of anger…there is no justification…we are not going to accept any explanation. We are making it clear and we are saying that there cannot be any explanation to any kind of violence. That is why we started by saying whatever anybody may say, we cannot accept or condone explanations for violence. Whatever be the provocation. We are here to find out how to stop this..."It went to say that the number of attacks in the State have come down since the matter came before the High Court. It orally said:"I think we can also take a little bit of a credit. For the last several years, things have become much better, at least in Kerala. After this Court has taken over, the number of attacks have come down drastically."But the Court agreed that a safe atmosphere in the hospitals should be ensured to prevent any future attacks. It turned to the government pleader and orally directed:"We want every hospital in Kerala to be safe for doctors, medical personnel and the attendant staff...You should be able to get a balance where this will not impede into the rights of the patients either or their bystanders. You require a professional attitude now. This will scarcely happen in a private hospital…"The Court concluded the hearing by giving a note of appreciation to the health care system. It orally observed:"We completely salute the system. In spite of all the handicaps, our brilliant doctors, nurses, janitors, everybody, they are all working round the clock. There is no system that works so beautifully in spite of all the predicaments that you have. We have to really give in, not only to the doctors, to everybody, the support staff, the nurses. The nurses work under tremendous pressure. Support staff works under tremendous pressure. Cleaning a hospital is so important. It is so difficult now. Commitment is so high. That is why we want them a good, safe environment. It is easy for us to sit in this air-conditioned room and speak."The case is posted after two weeks for the report of the government.Case No: RP No. 379/ 2021 in WP(C) 10659/ 2021Case Title: Kerala Private Hospitals Association v. Adv. Sabu P. Joseph

'How Can Doctors Work In Insecurity?': Kerala High Court Seeks Report On Safety Of Hospital Staff After Attack On Doctor

K. Salma Jennath

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