‘Assault on doctors far lesser than last year’

Stating that the cases of assault on doctors and other such issues have come down drastically, Dr Edwin Joe, Director, Directorate of Medical Education (DME), said, “While the Medical Protection Act has been existent for a long time, until recently, it was not very seriously implemented. Now that the Act being implemented, the cases of assault on doctors are far lesser.”

He said that the police are also now more aware of an Act of this kind, and do not take it lightly when they come across such a case. “The public has also become more aware. It is a non-bailable offense, the punishment for which is seven years imprisonment. Last week, a case of assault on a doctor was reported from Chengalpattu Government Hospital. Action was immediately taken, and the perpetrator arrested. He is still in prison,” said Dr Joe.

It may be recalled that a house surgeon was assaulted at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) last year, which led to an enormous protest that was called off only after Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan intervened and promised to set up security personnel and equipment for government hospitals.

He had also said that if someone threatens or indulges in violence against the doctors or nurses, action will be taken under the Hospital Protection Act.

“We have 127 outsourced security staff and 32 police personnel in the outpost. The outpost has received complaints of petty issues, including arguments among attenders, theft and the like which have been sorted” said Dr R Jayanthi, Dean, RGGGH.

KMC Hospital has a total of 45 security persons, of which 43 are outsourced and two are from the hospital. The outpost has a total of 10 personnel. “Two cases of assault were reported last year. Since then nothing has been reported,” said Dr P Vasanthamani, Dean of the Hospital.

However, there have been instances wherein complaints registered were not taken seriously. “My phone got stolen from my bag in the ladies’ toilet when my niece was admitted at KMC’s Burns Ward early this year, and despite having complained to police in the outpost, I received no response,” said Karthi K, 42, T Nagar.

The Stanley Medical College and Hospital, which has a total of 60 outsourced security staff, had seen a case of assault early this year. “We have requested for an increase in the number of security persons, which is still under process,” said Dr Dhanasekaran Krishnan, Deputy Medical Superintendent of the Hospital.