This week, the Delhi government passed an order that brought some relief to doctors in the city. According to the order, passed by the state health ministry, hospitals are now required to file an FIR or complaint, in case of an incident involving abuse or violence by patients or their attendants. However, individual doctors, paramedics, nursing or administrative staff cannot be asked to lodge this FIR/complaint with the police.
Violence against doctors by patients and their attendants is an issue around which doctors in the country have successfully mobilised around. Seeking redress against the “rising incidents” of violence perpetrated on them, doctors have staged several protests on this issue, and even demanded policy measures to address the issue.
In a recent article published in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry, researchers brought to the fore damning data—all doctors in the emergency department have reported “some kind of verbal violence”. In a review of studies done on the subject earlier, authors of the article found that younger doctors faced more physical violence; female doctors were more likely to face violence; the highest rates of violence were reported from the department of obstetrics and gynecology, followed by the medicine department with allied specialties, and surgery with allied specialties. The article also quotes studies that found that “verbal violence” was the most common form of violence experienced by doctors.
According to the Indian Medical Association (IMA), 75 per cent of doctors have faced some kind of violence at work. This data, according to the journal article, is similar to other countries in the continent. Arguing that among all professionals, healthcare professionals were at the “highest” risk of violence in their workplace, the article also enumerates the specific kinds of violence that doctors face—telephonic threats, intimidation, verbal abuse, physical but non-injurious assault, physical assault causing simple or grievous injury, murder, vandalism, and arson.
The authors, who belong to the psychiatry department at VIMHANS, Andhra Pradesh; PsyCare Neuropsychiatry Centre, Delhi, and Pt Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital, Delhi, point out in their article that medical professionals who faced violence have been known to develop psychological issues such as “depression, insomnia, post-traumatic stress, fear, and anxiety, leading to absenteeism”. Many have lost their clinics, injured themselves, lost lives, and also had their reputations tarnished due to these incidents, the study points out.
The article also bring to fore a pertinent issue—the need to stress on teaching all doctors empathy as part of the medical curriculum. In a countrylike India, due to the scarcity of doctors and healthcare facilities, these issues are seldom given importance, making this one of the important causes of rising violence against healthcare professionals. The article also stresses on the need for institutions to have adequate security measures, for doctors and other staff to recognise the warning signs of violent behaviour such as “staring, raised voices and yelling, sarcastic and caustic replies", and the need to make mandatory police reporting of all acts of violence within the healthcare premises.
