Bombay High Court wants more protection for docs
Not satisfied with the steps taken by the government to protect doctors in government-run hospitals, the Bombay high court on Tuesday directed the state government to take immediate steps to ensure se
Not satisfied with the steps taken by the government to protect doctors in government-run hospitals, the Bombay high court on Tuesday directed the state government to take immediate steps to ensure security in state and civic-run hospitals to prevent attacks on doctors and staff by aggrieved relatives of patients. The court has also directed the director general of police to chalk out a plan on urgent basis for giving police protection to doctors in hospitals.
A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Amjad Sayed gave this direction while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by activist Afak Mandaviya, through advocate Datta Mane, highlighting the issue of doctors going on strike frequently causing inconvenience to poor patients.
On Tuesday, the Maharashtra government filed an affidavit giving details of police personnel and security staff deployed in state-run hospitals. As per the affidavit, two policemen each are posted for security in hospitals like JJ Hospital, Sion Hospital, St George, GT Hospital and Nair Hospital, while four policemen have been posted in KEM Hospital.
Hearing this, the court observed that there is a serious lack of security due to which doctors can be attacked easily. “If this is the situations of hospitals in Mumbai, then it would be worse in the rest of Maharashtra,” said the court. The court then told the state that if it failed to take immediate action, the court would direct the Mumbai police commissioner to increase police deployment.
On earlier hearings, the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (Mard) had assured the court that henceforth it would not give a call or go on strike anywhere in the state and would only hold peaceful demonstrations highlighting their grievances, which included attacks on doctors by relatives.
Mard president Dr Sagar Mandada has expressed disappointment over the steps taken by the state so far for security of doctors. He said, “The government has instructed various colleges to take certain measures after the court order but sadly, these seem to be implemented on paper only.” He also said that the one-patient-two-relatives policy would be of great help but it has not been implemented. According to him, the government had promised to implement this policy on July 3, last year; however, it has not been done so far.