Chennai: Various associations of doctors as well as activists have been constantly demanding that police booths be set up in all government hospitals.
This would help avoid attacks from any mobs or relatives of patients. Getting a police post set up in hospitals is, however, said to be a herculean task.
“The procedure involved in getting an outpost is very tough. The Chief Medical Officer or the director of a hospital has to initially write to the Police Commissioner in the area, requesting for an outpost. And only if the Commissioner approves, is it looked into,” said a doctor. “The procedure should be made lenient. Many hospitals don’t have an outpost or have found it difficult to get one. It is the government’s responsibility to ensure safety for the doctors and healthcare providers,” added the doctor.
With the lack of any Government Order existing for the same, the outposts are brought up only based on requirement. “Initially, there was no demand. However, people’s attitude has changed now, with everything having become questionable,” said Dr. S. Srinivasan, State Coordinator of National Rural Health Mission and Registrar, Institute for Child Health and Children’s Hospital, (ICH) Egmore.
Doctors allege that many attacks are seen on doctors and healthcare providers even in government hospitals and clinics. “Not only does the public attack doctors, but, when angered, they tend to indulge in the destruction of public property in government hospitals. To avoid this, police outposts in every government hospital is the need of the hour,” said Dr. G. R. Ravindranath of the Doctors’ Association for Social Equality (DASE).
With hospitals like the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) seeing around 5,000 to 6,000 patients in the Out Patient ward, doctors feel an obvious need for police to be present at all times.
“The law and order issues that come up are to be dealt with by the police. Some district headquarters may not have police outposts. However, the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors’ Association had recently put forth their demand to bring a Protection Law, after they saw many doctors being beaten up and so many hospitals being broken into,” added Dr. Srinivasan.
