Ernakulam: The Kerala High Court recently, while quashing a medical negligence case against a nurse, has directed the state government to issue a circular in tune with the directions of the Supreme Court, which issued certain guidelines for prosecuting medical professionals, to see that the nurse in the government service and in private hospitals are protected from malicious and frivolous prosecutions.
Justice PV Kunhikrishnan directed this while hearing a plea filed by a nurse charge-sheeted under section 304A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) alleging medical negligence on her part while treating a patient. The nurse sought quashing of the case against her registered on the complaint of a person whose 10-year-daughter died.
Nursing is not just a job, its a calling and they are known as the backbone of the health care system: High Court
The High Court observed that the devotion, hard work and readiness to face any medical emergency of the patient day and night by the nursing community is to be appreciated by the society. Nursing is not just a job, its a calling and they are known as the backbone of the health care system and they don’t just care for patients, they care about patients, it added.
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“To do what nobody else will do, in a way nobody else can do is the nurses’ way. Nursing is an art and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion. As I said earlier, if any of us are admitted in a hospital we can understand the devotion and hard work of nurses in the hospital. They work day and night and they spent most of the time with their patients. The time spent by a doctor with the patients is less when compared to the time spent by a nurse with a patient. An experienced nurse can do wonders to a patient than an experienced doctor in some medical emergency situations. Therefore, the nurses also deserve care, protection and also moral support from the society while doing their duty,” the High Court observed.
Kerala govt issued a circular in tune with apex court order instructing procedure to be followed for complaints registered against doctors, High Court noted
The High Court said that the Supreme Court in Jacob Mathew v. State of Punjab observed that the investigating officer in criminal cases should, before proceeding against the doctor accused of rash or negligent act or omission, obtain an independent and competent medical opinion preferably from a doctor in government service qualified in that branch of medical practice who can normally be expected to give an impartial and unbiased opinion to the facts collected in the investigation. It also noted that the Kerala government had issued a circular in tune with the order of the Supreme Court instructing procedure to be followed by the investigating officers of complaints registered against doctors.
Why not same principle be applicable to the nurses in the hospital, High Court asked
“Why not the same principle be applicable to the nurses in the hospital who are spending their day and night with patience, for the well-being of their patients?,” the High Court asked and added, “I am of the considered opinion that the nurses in the government service and in private hospitals should also get protection like the doctors, if a prosecution is initiated under section 304A IPC alleging medical negligence. The government should issue necessary orders/circular in tune with Jacob Mathew’s case to see that the nurse in the government service and in private hospitals are protected from malicious and frivolous prosecutions.”
A nurse accused of negligence while discharging duty may not be arrested in a routine manner: High Court
The High Court further said, “This court declare that a nurse in the government service or in private hospitals accused of alleged rashness or negligence while discharging duty, may not be arrested in a routine manner (simply because a charge has been levelled), unless his/her arrest is inevitable for furthering the investigation or for collecting evidence or the investigation officer feels satisfied that the nurse proceeded against would not make herself available to face the prosecution unless arrested”.
The High Court directed that the state government should issue a circular in tune with the above directions of this court adopting the principle laid down by the Supreme Court in Jacob Mathew’s case as far as the nurses in the government service and in the private hospitals are concerned, within three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, similar to circular issued for the doctors and also directed the Registry to forward a copy of this order to the Additional Chief Secretary, Home(SSB) Department, State of Kerala and Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, State of Kerala forthwith for issuing necessary circulars.
