Of Healthcare Delivery & Doctors’ Safety

Dr Dharmakanta Kumbhakar

(The writer can be reached at drkdharmakanta@yahoo.com)

Very often we come across news of assaults on doctors, and on a few occasions even killing of doctors on trivial matters in different hospitals across India. A section of people in India is frequently harassing and abusing doctors physically and mentally in the slightest pretext for the alleged negligence without going into the merits of a case. It has become increasingly common for doctors in India to be jostled, roughed up or beaten by angry relatives of patients. Surveys by the Indian Medical Association reveal that about 75% of doctors have complained of verbal abuse and 12% of physical violence in India. Hitting a doctor when the patient dies has almost become a norm in India. We are also witness to frequent incidents of vandalism of hospital property in different health establishments across India on various pretexts.

The act of assaults on doctors and vandalism of hospital property in Assam also have registered a spurt in the recent years. Ransacking of hospitals has become commonplace across the State, irrespective of the educational level of people comprising the mob. There are several recent incidents of assaults on doctors and vandalism of Healthcare hospital property across the State; while some are reported, most of them go unreported. Yet another incident of violence against doctors stirred up the medical fraternity of Assam on August 31, 2019, when 73-year-old Dr Deben Dutta was brutally attacked and killed at Teok Tea Estate of Jorhat district by an irate tea garden mob following the death of a patient, Sukra Majhi, who was a labourer in the tea estate. The tea garden labourers claimed that Manjhi died due to the negligence of Dr Deben Dutta, who was on duty. In this case, the labourers who killed him crossed all the ethical limits when they not only prevented the ambulance from coming but scared it away depriving Dr Dutta of any medical aid.

Dr Deben Dutta had been serving at Teok Tea Estate voluntarily (after his formal retirement) for the liking he had developed for the labourers of that tea estate. Yet, the same people whom he had taken care of suddenly turned strangers and killed him in a brutal manner. This gruesome murder of Dr Dutta is not an isolated case that takes place in many tea gardens in Assam; prior to this also several assaulting cases on the medical fraternity rocked Assam. Assaults and intimidation of doctors of tea gardens by the workers and garden residents in Assam seem to have become a frequent feature. As per information, the latest incident at Teok Tea Estate is the third major incident of assault on doctors serving in tea gardens across Assam in recent times. It may be recalled that in May last, the senior medical officer of Dikom Tea Estate, Dr. Prabin Chandra Thakur was also brutally assaulted.

The lynching of Dr Deben Dutta has created a fear psychosis among the doctors working in the tea gardens and other interior areas in the State. Many doctors serving in the tea gardens of Assam have threatened to tender mass resignation if the authority concerned can’t provide them security. If the security matter remains the same, many tea gardens in Assam will witness an exodus of doctors. If this perverse trend of assault on tea garden doctors continues, the tea tribe community in Assam will end up with a situation when they will find no doctor to serve them. The tea tribe leaders should motivate the workers not to indulge in violence against the doctors. The Government of Assam must punish the culprits involved in the August 31 incident and take necessary steps to ensure safety and security of all the doctors serving in tea estate in Assam. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of Assam has issued instruction to conduct trial against those responsible for lynching of Dr Dutta in a fast track court for exemplary punishment. The State Government should take over the tea estate hospitals to run those under the State and Central Government schemes as the tea estate management are unable to run the garden hospitals properly.

The violence against doctors is not acceptable in any civilized society. Nowadays, people are becoming increasingly intolerant and appear to be in a mood to pick up a quarrel with doctors over any petty matter. It is very unfortunate that a large section of our society doesn’t understand the philosophy of the medical profession. People come to doctors with unreasonable expectations, failing to meet which is leading to assaults on doctors. The doctors are also as human as the patients they treat. The doctors are not magicians or wizard. No one should be under the delusion that the doctors are capable to fix any illness that the patient bring to them. No doctors have personal interest in seeking that their patients die, doctors look forward to filling up a discharge card, and not signing a death certificate. Moreover, doctors may commit mistakes as they are human too.

If any doctor commits any kind of malpractice and medical negligence, the doctor should be prosecuted under the law instead of people taking the law in their hands. If the perverse trend of assault on doctors continues, very soon it will become impossible to render medical services to the needy. This entire situation needs to change.

The Government, healthcare providers and public should try to avoid the triggers (shortage of doctors, medicine and infrastructure in hospitals, rude behaviour of doctors and intolerance of public, etc.) to violence against the doctors.

The repeated incidents of assault on doctors and the recent dastardly killing of Dr Dutta imply that the doctors in Assam are not secure at all. Today, the security of doctors has become a matter of serious concern to the medical fraternity of Assam. Healthcare Doctors are not trained for combat; they are trained to save lives. Healthcare doctors need security and support from everybody. The doctors seek protection from the authority concerned. The doctors need legal and political support also. Give the doctors at least a safe work environment, where they can be sure of their own survival before they start saving other’s life. The doctors want to do their work without fear.

Doctors also have a right to security as any other ordinary citizens. There should be strict implementation of the ‘Assam Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act, 2011’ so that lives of the medical practitioners are protected and medical services are ensured in Assam. This Act makes assaults and attacks on any medical practitioner a non-bailable and cognizable offence. The Government should have zero tolerance against any sort of violence on doctors, health workers and health establishments and should bring a new stringent law against it. Of course, the Central Government is proposing to bring legislation titled the “Healthcare Service Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property) Bill, 2019’ in this context. But, non-bailable warrants against the perpetrators are not a measure of security. The doctors want full security so that no incident of assault on doctor repeats in Assam.

Also Read: Is Free Healthcare Really Free At GMCH?