PANAJI: Maintaining that government doctors working at the primary health centres around the state, especially those located in the interior rural areas, are at a high risk of being attacked by violent relatives of the patients, state president of the Indian Medical Association Dr Medha Salkar on Friday said that this scenario has resulted in doctors at the primary health centres immediately referring the emergency cases to the secondary or tertiary level government hospitals.
Speaking to ‘The Navhind Times,’ Dr Salkar said that as the doctors working in the state primary health centres have become uncomfortable in treating their serious or even semi-serious patients due to the adverse reactions from the patients’ relatives, the referrals from the primary health centres as also from the private doctors to the secondary or tertiary level hospitals have increased to almost 50 per cent.
It may be recalled that Dr Babu Redkar, a South Goa medical practitioner, was allegedly assaulted by two persons at his Carmona clinic, earlier this month.
Speaking further, Dr Salkar said that the closed-circuit television and guards posted at the primary health centres could be adequate measures to control cases of violence from the relatives of the patients, against the attending doctors. “As for the CCTVs, we have no access to the budget for the same,” she added, pointing out that the guards posted at some of the primary health centres are also not full-fledged guards and are vulnerable to the attackers, which, in turn, calls for recruitment of trained guards for protecting the doctors.
Dr Salkar stated that the doctors working in places like Sankhali, Bicholim or still further in Sattari taluka are defenceless against the attackers. “It is really a risky and difficult task for them to treat serious patients, not knowing what their fate would be if anything happens to the patients they treat,” she said.
The Goa IMA president also said that constitution of a redressal committee under Section 7(1) of the Goa Medicare Act 2013 would be adequate, as the patient with any complaint against the doctor can approach this committee on a legal level, and the committee can decide on the complaint.
Dr Salkar also said that on the lines of some states in the country, Goa too can enact a special legislation to protect doctors from attacks on them.
On a parting note, the Goa IMA president said that the medical officers in the government health centres are doing very good job in providing medical facilities to the public, but fear their safety due to the recent assaults on them. “It is quite a different thing for the doctors to work at the Goa Medical College Hospital and at the primary health centres in the rural interiors, with there being no guarantee of their safety at the latter places,” she concluded.
Dr Redkar and Dr Salkar along with Dr Shekhar Salkar, Dr Suraj Prabhudessai, Dr Babita Prabhudessai and other doctors had met the Superintendent of Police (South Goa) seeking stern action against both the accused as well as protection for doctors. They also met Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar over the issue.