Govt has stalled the proposed bill that was intended to protect doctors from assault by hooligans and provide severe punishment.
The reason is clear. If the people can't assault doctors, their anger will get directed towards the politicians.
They can't let the public realise that they, politicians, are the real reason for the pathetic condition of healthcare in India.
"We are fighting the government for a better healthcare environment for the public of this country."
Its time all of us unite against the system which doesn't care for its doctors and common people’s health.
What are our demands?
1) Better healthcare infrastructure for the people of this country.
2) Safe working environment where doctors can give their full attention to the patient without fearing assault.
3) Availability of all necessary medicinesat all times - at times we cannot save a patient due to lack of medicines, and the public outrage is directed at doctors.
4) Doctor should be able to give more time to the patients - this is possible only if number of doctors is increased with respect to the number of patients Government should do this.
5) More ventilators in all hospitals - sometimes the patient dies due to unavailability of ventilators. And the public blames doctors. Not knowing that its the govenrment’s fault.
6) The public of this country has right to be treated by doctors who are well rested and with fresh mind - but this is not possible if there are less doctors and they are made to work 48 to 96 hr at a stretch without sleep and sometimes without food. Duty hours of doctors should be fixed at 8 hrs per day and 48 hr per week.
7) Patient should be given adequate time in the OPDs - Maximum Number of patients that can be seen by a doctor in OPD in one day should be fixed. If a doctor at govt hospital treats 200 patients in 8 hours without single break, even then he cannot give more than 2-3 minute per patient.
8) Doctors should spend their time in treating patients rather than collect samples, transport papers from one part of hospital to other. There should be adequate ward boys for that. This way doctors could give more time to patients.
9) Restricting number of relatives who come to meet patients - Every relative who enters, brings with him germs. Number of complications increase due to this.
10) Punish all who assault doctors - with every assault, morale of doctors decreases. We want motivated and empathetic doctors to treat the patients of this country. Assaulters must be punished.
11) Public has the right to be treated by real doctors - It is the duty of the government to clamp down on quacks. When the quacks will decrease, number of cases who reach a hospital late in critical condition will decrease.
12) Rampant sale of antibiotics at pharmacies should stop - It is the duty of govt to ensure that antibiotics are not sold without prescriptions. When antibiotics are not misused, antibiotic resistance will not increase, infections can be treated and deaths due to sepsis decrease.
13) Increase Healthcare Spending
14) Justice for attack on doctors at NRSMCH
15) Central Law to protect doctors
Thus, if there will be better healthcare, assaults will automatically come down.
Hence the doctors are fighting the administration and government to provide better healthcare to people of this country.
Help Doctors in this Mission
#DoctorsForBetterHealthcare
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"Doctors can guarantee best treatment, but doctors cannot guarantee 100% results."
India is struggling to meet the goals of reducing infant mortality and maternal mortality. There is gross lack of Emergency and Intensive Care facilities in smaller towns and cities alike.
All critical patients are referred to tertiary government hospitals where the standard of care obviously diminishes if patients flow in numbers many times more than handling capacity of doctors there. Even tertiary private institutes are overburdened. Government medical colleges in smaller towns refer the patient indiscriminately. This is increasing the cost of healthcare immensely.
There is a need that indiscriminate referring be stopped. There is a need that the cases that can be handled at medical colleges in smaller towns be managed there. There is a need that smaller government or private hospitals and nursing homes become well equipped to deal with critical situations. But neither the doctors nor the hospitals are responsible for this current situation. The reason for this is that doctors are afraid to treat critical patients, nursing homes don't want to create facilities for intensive care and no one wants to admit critical patients. Reason is simple. In spite of best efforts of doctors, nurses, nursing homes, hospitals and medical colleges; a patient may die. After all, doctors are Doctors and not God. But, in an event of death of a patient, no one will save the doctor. In the event of death of a critical patient, nursing homes are vandalized. In the event of death of patients, angry relatives beat duty doctors black and blue like they did to Dr Amle in Parel, Mumbai and Dr Rohan of GMC, Dhule. In the event of death of patients, even specialists like Dr Rohit Gupta of Allahabad are not spared. Incidents of assault on doctors are commonplace in West Bengal where the administration seems to have closed their eyes on assaults on doctors by their vote bank. We the brutality they did to a young doctor in DY Patil Hospital, Pune. In 2019, doctor fought for his life after brutal assault by a mob of 200 who were brought in 2 lorries on dealth of a 90 year old patient at NRS Medical college, Kolkata. This happened again at Hindurao Hospital. A doctor suffered laceration on scalp when patient relatives assaulted doctors in the casualty after death of a CKD patient. In July 2019, doctor was brutally assaulted after death of elderly patient with myocardial infarction at LNJP (MAMC) hospital by a mob, New Delhi. And then again it happened in Mumbai. 15 Relatives assault 3 doctors at Nair Hospital, Mumbai after death of 50 year old critically ill seropositive patient.
On duty doctor of Pediatrics threatened, ambushed, beaten... all within the ward and doctor’s duty room by 25 terrorists-like patient relatives at a hospital in Odisha in 2019.
52 year old doctor brutally and mercilessly assaulted, almost lost vision. The patient was his neighbour whom he took to hospital in his own car. When the patient became serious, this is what they did to him - abducted him, threatned his wife to hand over cheque book, made him sign cheques worth 50 lakhs, beat him and threw him on the road. This happened in 2019 too.
On 30 Aug 2019 in Assam - After a patient death, locals got angry and brutally assaulted the doctor. The doctor died while being taken to the hospital. This happened at Teok Tea Estate in Jorhat, Assam.
"No state is left where violence on doctors is not seen. "
And not the people are getting bolder and targetting the family members of doctors too. Wife of doctor murdered in cold blood in Indore.
This fear has created terror in the minds of doctors. It is becoming impossible for doctors to work under so much fear. People who attack doctors should be called "Terrorist-like" because they are creating a terror in the minds of doctor against good work. They are disrupting peace and harmony of the nation. It is increasing the economic burden on the Indian society, thus threatening economic security of the nation. Stringent laws should be made to save the doctor from these unruly elements doing terrorist-like-activities and punishment must be given as that given to a terrorist.
“Doctors can guarantee best treatment, but doctors cannot guarantee 100% results."
To become a doctor is not easy. Doctor has to sacrifice his sleep – the time he/she spends caring for patients he barely knows; to sacrifice his/her youth – the time spend with books; sacrifice his family – the time spend away from home for education. But a doctor lives like an ordinary citizen.He does not demand subsidized groceries. He pays his electricity bills and phone bills. He buys all services at market rates.
There is only one thing that a doctor demands. And that is my humble request to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi
"SAVE THE DOCTOR… GIVE JUSTICE TO EVERY DOCTOR WHO HAS BEEN ASSAULTED.... AND THE DOCTOR WILL SAVE MANY MORE LIVES FOR THIS NATION"
Yours truly
Dr. Sumit Periwal
