Days after a 22-year-old lady doctor was stabbed to death at a hospital in Kottarakkara (Kerala), the Federation of Resident Doctors Association FORDA has once again raised the demand for safety and security at the workplace. According to the Association for resident doctors, there is a need to create a central protection law.
FORDA said that it is very important to create a central protection law as this will help in bringing down the number of cases of violence against doctors.
Centre not doing enough for doctors, says FORDA
Aviral Mathur, president, of FORDA, feels that the Centre is not doing enough to bring the laws that guarantee the protection of doctors.
“The recent incident where a 22-year-old doctor was stabbed multiple times is a reminder that medical practitioners work in a vulnerable environment. We often face hostility both from the patients and their attendants. Despite all this the Centre is yet to come out with laws that guarantee our protection and provide us with a safe and conducive environment to work,” Mathur said.
“We are preparing a draft with a compilation of numerous incidents of violence that occurred with doctors on duty. These will be presented to the Union Health Ministry stating that these are the incidents that could have been avoided if there was legislation in place to protect the doctors from violence happening at the workplace,” he was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express. According to FORDA, the draft will speak on three aspects.
It is to be noted that FORDA and its members have time and again raised issues related to doctors. Last winter, its members led a massive nationwide strike after constant delays in NEET PG examinations. As a result of the agitation, the Centre had to expedite the NEET PG counselling. Once again, FORDA has started a drive to bring to the attention of the government the environment in which doctors have to perform.
