Consumer Rights: Ensure the safety of women patients too

The brutal rape and murder of a young trainee doctor, while on duty at the RG Kar Medical College Hospital in Kolkata, shocked the entire nation and brought to the fore the absence of workplace safety for medical professionals not just in Kolkata, but around the country. What added to the consternation and outrage was the way the principal of the college dealt with the heinous crime, putting a big question mark over the impartiality of the investigation and justice to the victim and her family. Thanks to the agitation by resident doctors in Kolkata and the solidarity expressed by fellow professionals across the country, the case has been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The Supreme Court also took immediate cognisance of the matter and constituted a high-powered National Task Force (NTF) to formulate effective recommendations to remedy the issues pertaining to their safety, working conditions and well-being.

Referring to another issue of concern — frequent cases of violence against resident doctors by irate relatives of patients — the Supreme Court commented that several states, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, had enacted legislations to protect healthcare service professionals from violence. “However, these do not address the institutional and systemic causes that underlie the problem,” the court observed. It has asked the NTF to come up with an action plan for an enforceable national protocol for dignified and safe working conditions for interns, residents, senior residents, nurses and doctors. Given their working hours and the threat that they face in the absence of proper security measures, this is a highly welcome step.

While on this important issue, I would urge the Supreme Court to enlarge the scope of the NTF to encompass the safety of female patients, too, given the large number of cases of rape and molestation of female patients in hospitals — both government and private. Many of the security measures like CCTV cameras, restrictions on the entry and exit of people, proper lighting and security guards would help the patients, but only to a limited extent. Their protection requires additional measures such as pre-employment checks by hospitals on the antecedents/track records of all male staff and restrictions on the entry of male staff into female wards.

From the reported cases of rape of patients, the intensive care units (ICU) require special attention because that’s where the relatives are not with the patient and since both male and female patients are admitted there, male workers have access. And, this is where patients are doubly vulnerable on account of their health status, which might require sedation.

In July this year, a 51-year-old patient from Kazakhstan was allegedly raped by a hospital attendant at Artemis hospital in Gurugram while she was under sedation. Following the complaint, the Gurugram police said strict instructions would be given to all hospitals about not allowing any male attendant to enter the room of a female patient, unless accompanied by female staff.

In February, a male nurse was arrested for sedating and raping a female patient in the ICU of Harish Hospital in Alwar, Rajasthan. The accused reportedly entered the ICU at 3.30 am and tried to molest her. When she protested, he administered a sedative and raped her.

In July, the director of Ashish Hospital, Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, was booked on charges of allegedly raping a 25-year-old patient while she was in the operation theatre in an unconscious state. The woman had undergone surgery for a lump in her breast and was discharged after the procedure. She was later called back to get her bandages changed and the allegation was that the doctor drugged and raped her. The same month, a male physiotherapist at the Kozhikode District Hospital was accused of molesting a female patient.

In April 2021, a 43-year-old Covid patient, undergoing treatment at the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre, was raped by a male nurse. The woman’s condition worsened after that and she was put on a ventilator, but did not survive. The culprit had earlier been suspended for drinking on duty. In 2019, a woman admitted to a private hospital in Meerut for a liver ailment was drugged and gangraped by three ward boys in the ICU.

There are so many such media reports that it makes for painful reading. Unfortunately, these cases do not get enough attention to bring about reforms to protect patients who are seeking healthcare at hospitals, and are highly vulnerable. The Supreme Court would be doing a great service to the cause of patients by bringing their safety too under the ambit of the NTF, and directing all the hospitals in the country to enforce those measures to ensure the safety of patients, as well as health professionals.