Doctors across the country, particularly women, report feeling unsafe during night shifts. Also, modifications to infrastructure are essential to ensure safe, clean, and accessible duty rooms, bathrooms, food, and drinking water, a study by the Indian Medical Association has found. According to the study, there is substantial scope for improving security personnel and equipment in healthcare settings. Adequate staffing, effective triaging, and crowd control in patient care areas are also necessary to ensure that doctors can provide the required attention to each patient without feeling threatened by their work environment, it said.
The discussion of the safety of doctors, particularly women, came to the fore after the horrific rape and murder of a trainee doctor in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital when she had gone to rest during her night shift in the early hours of August 9.
What the study found
- Respondents were from several states. 85% were under 35 years. 61% were interns or postgraduate trainees. Women constituted 63%, aligning with the gender ratio in some MBBS courses.
- Several doctors reported feeling unsafe (24.1%) or very unsafe (11.4%), totalling one-third of the respondents. The proportion of those feeling unsafe was higher among women.
- A duty room was not available to 45% of respondents during night shifts.
- Those with access to a duty room had greater sense of safety.
- Duty rooms were often inadequate due to overcrowding, lack of privacy and missing locks, forcing doctors to find alternative rest areas.
- One-third of available duty rooms did not have an attached bathroom.
- In more than half the instances (53%), duty room was located far from the ward/casualty area.
- Suggestions to enhance safety included increasing the number of trained security personnel, installing CCTV cameras, ensuring proper lighting, implementing the Central Protection Act (CPA), restricting bystander numbers, installing alarm systems, and providing basic amenities such as secure duty rooms with locks
A 2017 study by the Indian Medical Association found that over 75% of doctors in the country have experienced workplace violence, while 62.8% are unable to see their patients without any fear of violence. Another study reported that 69.5% of resident doctors encounter violence while at work Exposure to violence is known to lead to fear, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder among doctors.
Inputs by Anamika
