Doctors Need Anti-violence Bill & Some Communication Skill

Increased healthcare spend and improved facilities will reduce doctor-patient friction

- PT Jyothi Datta

Over a fortnight ago, a 73-year-old doctor was attacked at a tea plantation in Assam after a worker had died at the plantation hospital. The doctor succumbed to his injuries.

But wounds from violence against doctors have been festering for a while now, forcing the Centre to outline a Bill that protects medical personnel and infrastructure from violence.

Even in casual conversation, doctors bring up the threat of possible violence they face from patient families. Naturally, they laud “The Healthcare Service Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of violence and damage to property) Bill (2019) for the penalties, compensation and imprisonment it defines for violence. (see box)

Doctors point to bouncers and armed presence in hospitals, besides insurance that they are contemplating, in the face of violence.

And yet, when they speak on the promise of anonymity, there is an acceptance that medical professionals too need to introspect and play their part in dispelling the distrust between them and patients. While there is no dispute that violence of any form is unacceptable, doctors want this conversation to also include Government and its abysmal spending on healthcare. Low spends cause doctors to be overworked and facilities to get stretched, laying the ground for doctor-patient friction.