New Delhi: One-third of doctors, mostly women, who work during night shifts in India feel “unsafe” or “very unsafe” and some even carry weapons for self-defence, a study conducted by Indian Medical Association (IMA) revealed.
The online survey that includes an analysis of thousands of suggestions from 3,885 doctors across 22 states comes amid massive outrage across the country over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. The 31–year-old postgraduate doctor was on night duty when the horrific incident took place.
“Several doctors reported feeling unsafe (24.1 per cent) or very unsafe (11.4 per cent), totalling one-third of the respondents. The proportion of those feeling unsafe was higher among women,” the survey findings showed.
Modifications to infrastructure to ensure doctors’ safety
The IMA claimed that the survey conducted in August is the largest study from India on this topic and was undertaken to evaluate safety concerns during night shifts among doctors. The survey provides insights into gender, age, designation, duty room availability, and safety perceptions during night duty. The respondents were from several states with 85 per cent of them being under 35 years while 61 per cent were interns or postgraduate trainees.
“Doctors across the country, particularly women, report feeling unsafe during night shifts. There is
substantial scope for improving security personnel and equipment in healthcare settings,” the IMA said in its survey report.
“Modifications to infrastructure are essential to ensure safe, clean, and accessible duty rooms, bathrooms, food, and drinking water. 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 added.
Duty room not available to 45% of respondents
The online survey revealed that a duty room was not available to 45 per cent of respondents during night shifts and one-third of available duty rooms did not have an attached bathroom which means that the doctors needed to step outside during late hours to access these facilities.
The findings also showed that the duty rooms were often inadequate due to overcrowding, lack of privacy and missing locks, forcing doctors to find alternative rest areas. “In more than half the instances (53%), duty room was located far from the ward/casualty area,” it said.
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 were given by the doctors.
Doctors carry weapons, pepper spray for self-defence
Doctors who participated in the survey highlighted several other factors. The lack of sufficient numbers of trained security personnel, inadequate lighting of the corridors, absence of CCTV cameras and unrestricted entry of unauthorised individuals into patient care areas were among the most frequent remarks.
Some doctors indicated the need to start carrying weapons for self-defence. One doctor admitted that she always carried a foldable knife and pepper spray in her handbag because the duty room was located at the far end of a dark and deserted corridor. Doctors who worked in casualty reported verbal and physical threats from people who were drunk or under the influence of drugs. Another doctor reported that she repeatedly experienced bad touch or inappropriate contact in a crowded emergency room. The situation is worse in some smaller hospitals where there is limited staff and no security.
