There is a rising discontent among the public against the Doctors. And the outlet for this discontent appears to be in the form of physical assault. The rising number of assaults on doctors is now making them wary of taking difficult cases or pushing them for investigations, second opinions and super specialist referrals all of which is at a price and the assaulters in the society are to blame.
Physical assault in any form is a crime especially when carried out in hospitals. The assault on a doctor or nurse while carrying out his/her duty forces the doctor out of his work depending on the grievous nature of injury and not to mention the mental and emotional trauma. The assault leads to suffering not only of the other patients under the care directly in the form of admitted patients but also the regular patients on follow up. For that the assaulter bears no moral responsibility and also to keep in mind the economic loss borne by the hospital in the form of physical damage to the hospital and the direct economic loss for the duration when the hospital is shut off. The hospitals especially the small scale neighbourhood ones will usually shut doors for some time in response and the government hospital doctors will either fight back directly or at times go on strike. This strike will be viewed by public as insensitiveness or at least the media projection will be in that direction. The courts will direct doctors to join and the politicians will threaten of dire consequences in the form of administrative actions.
The question remains: What should the doctor do in the event of assault? Do we as a society accept it as a part and parcel of doctors life?
Also, do you think the Doctor has killed the patient deliberately? Do we as a society believe that the man in the white coat is in fact a cold blooded killer and dacoit?
While India is improving it’s health access in the form of medical colleges, government hospitals and private healthcare. The overall mindset seems to be tipped in a single direction, which is that money and bringing the patient even at terminal stages is a promise of survival. The assaults reflect poorly on the society as it shows the lack of maturity in death and a power/ money drunk public who believe that while they can choose not to take medicine as explained by the doctor on one account or the other, but the onus of managing the illness is on the doctor. While grief is acceptable, physical assault is not and one must acknowledge that survival is not entirely in the hands of even the best trained doctors with all the technology in the world.
The emotions frequently run high in hospitals under stressful situations, the doctors are expected to remain calm and face assault both verbal and physical yet continue to work like a faithful slave. The lack of government conviction to prevent these assaults is apparent. This has lead a lot of doctors declaring that they will not let their children pursue medicine. The reason is multifaceted: poor pay, late economic freedom, absence of vacations, frequent burnouts and now to add to the list: an assault which may cost you an eye and tooth.
The society maintains that the high fees charged by a doctor is not ethical for the patient has come in pain and misery so the doctor must treat for free. The society keeps a blind eye to the fact that the doctor also has bills to pay, a family to support and even parents and grandparents with health problems like most of the public. The list includes the cost of establishment (water, land, electricity) none of which are subsidised, the staff salary, the annual maintenance contracts for costly equipment, the biomedical waste charges and a plethora of licenses to list a few. The nursing homes and single doctor owned hospitals somehow are surviving at a precarious balance where they try to provide care at affordable costs.
The effort of these doctors working tirelessly in a colony is commendable. But with attacks on a neighbourhood doctor sets off the alarm as now the doors will be shut and the doctor will think twice before taking on a difficult case. The difficult case is necessarily not the one that requires critical care but a difficult case is now the one where attenders are difficult in form of aggressiveness, mob mentality and of course under influence. The government run hospitals are reeling under their own health problems which includes understaffing, overload and lack of cutting edge technology to name a few.
The residents are the first line attacked and assaults on them are frequently violent. The residents are made to work beyond what any human should be working, their shifts are frequently long and arduous. While the society maintains that they are paying for their education in the form of subsidy it is imperative to note that provision of subsidy is not a reason to assault a hard working young doctor who is living in pathetic conditions, holding his bowel and bladder because he has patients to see, skipping food to finish work and missing out on his family and friends because he simply is not allowed leave, not to mention neglecting their own health along the way.
The proud ageing parents sitting at home listening to the news that their child was assaulted while on work and will be blind in one eye the rest of his life!! The mere thought of this has firmly established in my mind, my child will become anything but a doctor in India. I have no option but to stop them from making this blunder even if they are successful or have the aptitude for it, I will not let them become a doctor.
The huge corporate hospitals with their technology have their own expenses and they also do not appear to be immune to attacks despite their formidable appearance. They frequently have a team of security and contingency measures in place including lawyers but ultimately the patient has to pay. They are run on profits and quite rightly so for premium service comes at a premium price.
We frequently see our politicians flying abroad for treatment, nobody seems to ask why? The government has established the apex institutes, there exist huge corporate conglomerates in medical sectors, then why do they need to go abroad? The answer is, they want world class care at the expense of the public and the public doesn’t seem to mind, they do not appear to attack them while it is still their taxes that is footing the bill.
The corporate hospital honchos are frequently seen on television preaching ideals while their deepest desire remains to wipe out the small singly run centres and small nursing homes to increase their patient inflow. They are not only in favour of pushing the government for more stringent laws, maintenance of records etc which is not feasible at the service price of a small hospital this when coupled with fear of assault definitely prohibits a young doctor to set up his own practice.
The public is not aware at present and they will soon be sorry because their friendly neighbourhood doctor will be forced to shut doors. The price of treatment is high and is bound to get higher. The brain drain exists and will continue to increase all thanks to the assaults.
The doctor is traumatised and needs to be saved, for he might appear a devil to you but will be a saviour for many in his line of duty. Pursue the doctor in courts but don’t beat the man for he has a family and has life and duties of life like any other man, yet he stands in front of you trying to help you through the disease sacrificing his youth. He is also a human don’t make him god or at least don’t consider him a rabid dog.