IMA again calls for central law against violence against doctors and hospitals

The IMA has written to the National Task Force (NTF), which has been tasked with drafting a protocol to ensure safety of medical personnel, reiterating its demand for a central law against violence against doctors and hospitals and declaring hospitals as containment zones.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) justified its letter by arguing that the Supreme Court had set up the NTF to develop a national consensus and formulate protocols with due consultation of all stakeholders. Its request was divided into three sections.

The NTF was appointed to the Supreme Court following a protest by doctors and medical professionals following the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the government-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

To first set out its demand and justification for a central law against violence against doctors and hospitals, the IMA submitted, among other things, as annexes, its study ‘Safety during night shifts: Survey of 3885 doctors across India’, its draft central law, its draft bill – ‘The Healthcare Service Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of violence and damage to property) Bill, 2019’ and the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Act of September 2020.

In justifying the demand for a central law, the IMA stated in its letter that health facilities differ both in terms of their infrastructure and human resources.

“The only prevention strategy that could be applied across the board and in all states would be a deterrent central law. The absence of such a law has led to half-hearted police action and less than optimal investigations and prosecutions of the incidents,” it said.

Arguing that deterrence is the best form of prevention, the IMA said that a strong central law, unlike other measures, will prevent violence in all sectors, especially small and medium ones. It will act as an enabling law for the state legislatures.

Secondly, on its demand for declaring hospitals as containment zones, the IMA said that the concept of containment zones could also be enshrined in the proposed legislation.

“The declaration of a security zone gives hospitals security expectations. However, these security expectations should be tempered with patient-friendly nature and cultural sensitivity,” it said.

Thirdly, she called for an improvement in the working and living conditions of practicing physicians.

Since the introduction of the resident system, there have been repeated administrative and court decisions to this effect. “But little has changed on the ground,” the report says.

“We, the medical fraternity of India, expect the National Task Force to live up to our expectations and instill confidence in the demoralised medical fraternity,” the doctors' association said in its letter.

The IMA further stated that it is the national organisation of modern medical practitioners founded in 1928, which played a role in the country's freedom struggle and has its headquarters in New Delhi.

It is present in almost all districts of the country and has 1,800 local chapters, 28 state chapters and 385,000 members. In addition, the IMA is present in all medical colleges of the country through its Junior Doctors Network and Medical Students Network, the letter said.

The entire medical fraternity of India followed the IMA's call and stopped all services except emergency and trauma treatment on August 17, it said.