Long ago as a young health reporter for The Indian Express, we had a column about spending a day with young professionals in the city, see what their day was like, from the time you leave home for work and come back.
I decided to profile a doctor, a young GI surgeon. The only difference here was his day started as a regular guy but sometimes stretched till 24 to 36 hours. I don’t remember the doctors name but I surely remember the hard work, the dedication.
I also remember the doctor telling me, how they do their best but sometimes the patients,the attendants don’t seem to understand. Getting shouted at, screamed at, even at times beaten up is what doctors mostly those in the public sector have to face.
The death of a young doctor at the hands of an uncontrolled patient in Kerala is a sad reminder how vulnerable doctors can be .
Very often we hear young doctors sitting on protests after being manhandled at work.
We might have given calls to honour doctors time and again especially at the times of covid but we also saw India's doctors are demanding greater protection against escalating levels of violence from patients and their families many times especially during the pandemic.
Even before the pandemic doctors have been demanding safety measures like on call police teams in hospital emergencies .
To be alerted to the risk or a patients behavior before entering room to attend the patients .
Have a work place violence policy and patients and attendants need to be made aware of the gravity of the condition on the onset itself.
We as citizens have to also remember that doctors are not Gods. The are not infallible can they cure the impossible. They make mistakes, sometimes there is an oversight which can cost u dearly- personally our family had to suffer as doctors didn’t pay attention to a symptom reported for years. But I am sure no one did it on purpose . We just have to remember that .