The Centre has issued a fresh directive mandating heads of all government medical facilities to file First Information Reports (FIRs) on violence against on-duty health workers within six hours.
Speaking to CNN-News18, a Union Health Ministry official said, “It is stated that in the event of any violence against any health care worker while on duty, the head of institution shall be responsible for filing an institutional FIR within a maximum of six hours of the incident.”
The official added that the notice has been issued in wake of the increasing cases of violence against healthcare workers.
“Several Health workers suffer physical violence during their duty. Many are threatened or exposed to verbal aggression. Most of this violence is done by either patient or patient’s attendants,” the official said.
The Centre’s directive comes amid widespread and furious protests over the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at Kolkata’s state-run RG Kar Hospital last week.
Students Continue Stir, Medical Seivices Hit
Meanwhile, doctors across the nation intensified their protests, and operations at major government hospitals remained affected.
Junior doctors at Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital and RML Hospital in the national capital staged a protest against the rape and murder of the resident doctor. Doctors raised the slogan of “We want justice” while protesting against the rape and murder incident.
Meanwhile, the Resident Doctors Association, Government Medical College in Amritsar, Punjab has announced the suspension of all non-essential and elective hospital services, including Out Patient Departments, Operating Theaters and wards, beginning on August 16 and continuing until further notice.
They also announced the suspension of all non-essential and elective hospital services on Friday.
Doctors have been staging protests outside Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar.
The Kerala Medical Postgraduates Association (KMPGA) along with resident doctors associations of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), Dental PG Association, House Surgeons Association and Students unions of various medical colleges has called for a 24-hour strike in Kerala.
All Undergraduate and Postgraduate medical, dental and paramedical students have been carrying out silent protests inside the Nair Hospital premises demanding safe and secure environments in government medical colleges and hospitals. Outpatient Department services have been shut down.
Doctors of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tamil Nadu’s Trichy have been protesting wearing black badges as a mark of protest.
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