Doctors in India | (Photo: Shutterstock)
Four thematic sub-groups have been constituted on the recommendations of the National Task Force to address the concerns highlighted by the Supreme Court in the wake of protests by doctors following the RG Kar rape and murder incident.
Taking suo motu cognizance of the case of rape and murder of a junior doctor at a government-run medical college and hospital in Kolkata, the top court constituted a 10-member National Task Force (NTF) to formulate a protocol to ensure the safety of doctors and other healthcare professionals.
The Union Health Ministry on Thursday issued an office memorandum notifying the four sub-groups of the NTF, each of which has mandates with four themes: strengthening the infrastructure of medical institutions, strengthening security systems in medical institutions, modernizing working conditions of healthcare professionals and strengthening the legal framework across states.
“…the following four thematic sub-groups are constituted on the basis of the recommendations of the NTF to address the concerns highlighted and areas suggested by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in its orders dated 20.08.2024 and 22.08.2024,” the office memorandum said.
The sub-groups may hold meetings with stakeholders who have submitted their views on the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) portal and other stakeholders. The sub-groups finalize their recommendations based on those interactions as well as the inputs received from state governments and medical institutions that the DGHS collects through the online portal.
The sub-groups would further submit their recommendations along with an action plan to the MoHFW within three weeks, which would then be submitted to the NTF for finalization within the timelines set by the Supreme Court, the memorandum said.
In an annex attached to the memorandum, the Ministry also detailed the terms of reference of the subgroups under which it will formulate effective recommendations to remedy issues of concern related to safety, working conditions and welfare of medical professionals and other related matters.
The NTF will formulate an action plan based on the recommendations of the four subgroups categorized under two subheadings: “Preventing violence against medical professionals and providing safe working conditions” and “Providing an enforceable national protocol for decent and safe working conditions for interns, residents, senior residents, physicians, nurses and all medical professionals.”
The terms of reference under the ‘Prevention of violence against medical professionals and provision of safe working conditions’ entail ensuring adequate security in medical establishments, as part of which there should be triage of departments and locations within the hospital based on the degree of volatility and the possibility of violence, with special attention to areas such as emergency rooms and ICUs which are prone to a higher degree of violence and need additional security to deal with any untoward incident.
Consideration will also be given to establishing a system of baggage and person screening at each entrance to a hospital to ensure that no weapons are brought into the medical facility, preventing intoxicated persons from entering the premises of the medical facility unless they are patients, and training security personnel employed in hospitals to handle crowds and mourners.
In terms of infrastructure development, there should be separate break rooms and on-call rooms in each department for male and female doctors, and male and female nurses, and a gender-neutral common break space.
The rooms must be well ventilated, have enough beds and have drinking water. Access to these rooms must be restricted by installing safety devices, the document says.
It requires the adoption of appropriate technological interventions to regulate access to critical and sensitive areas, including through the use of biometric and facial recognition.
The terms of reference include ensuring adequate lighting in all areas of a hospital and installing CCTV cameras at all entry and exit points of the hospital, and in corridors leading to all patient rooms.
If the residences or rooms of medical professionals are located outside the hospital, transportation must be arranged between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. for those who wish to travel to or from their place of stay to the hospital.
Social workers trained in grief and crisis counselling should be employed in all medical facilities.
In addition, workshops should be held for all employees of a medical facility, including physicians, nurses, and assistants on grief and crisis management, and the establishment of “Employee Safety Committees” comprised of physicians, interns, residents, and nurses to conduct quarterly audits on institutional safety measures.
The terms of reference also mention exploring the possibility of establishing police posts in medical facilities commensurate with the influx, number of beds and facilities.
Under the other subheading ‘Providing an enforceable national protocol for decent and safe working conditions for interns, residents, senior residents, physicians, nurses and all medical professionals’, the terms of reference mention the prevention of sexual violence against medical professionals.
The document stresses that the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 applies to hospitals and nursing homes (including private health service providers). Under the provisions of the Act, an internal complaints committee must be constituted in all hospitals and nursing homes, it says.
The phrase “medical professionals” covers all medical professionals, including doctors, medical students undergoing their mandatory rotating medical internship (CRMI) as part of the MBBS course, resident doctors and senior resident doctors, and nurses (including those who are nursing interns), the document said.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: September 5, 2024 | 11:35 PM IS
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