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New Delhi: The Supreme Court-appointed panel has formed a committee to frame a protocol safety and security Of healthcare professionals The first meeting was held on Tuesday and it was decided to hold extensive consultations with stakeholders to identify priority issues and prepare a framework to address them. National Task Force (NTF) was formed following a decision taken by the Supreme Court last week. self-motivated cognition A case of alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor has come to light in Kolkata’s government RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Protests erupted across the country,
The NTF members deliberated on some of the inputs and representations received for improving the safety, security and working conditions of health workers. medical establishmentSources said.
“It was decided that the NTF will hold further discussions with stakeholders like IMA, concerned Resident Doctors Associations as it is important to know their views and listen to them. Also, since the timeline is limited, the draft should be prepared as soon as possible,” a source said.
“We have already discussed some of the suggestions but we will expand on them and have further discussions to make it more inclusive and comprehensive so that we can get clarity on the issues that need to be prioritised, as well as an implementation map and a definite roadmap,” the source said.
In addition, it was also decided that Union Health Ministry The government will launch a portal where all the stakeholders will be able to give their inputs and views on the issue.
The Union Health Ministry had last Wednesday issued an office memorandum mentioning the terms of reference for the NTF, according to which it will prepare effective recommendations to address issues of concern relating to safety, working conditions and welfare of workers. medical professionals And other related matters.
The Supreme Court had asked the NTF to prepare an action plan under two sub-headings – ‘Prevention of violence, including gender-based violence against medical professionals, and providing safe working conditions’, and ‘Prevention of sexual violence against medical professionals’.
To ensure adequate security in medical establishments, under ‘Preventing violence against medical professionals and providing safe working conditions’, according to the terms of reference, training should be conducted in departments and locations within a hospital based on the degree of instability and the likelihood of violence.
It said areas such as emergency rooms and intensive care units are more vulnerable to violence and may possibly require additional security to deal with any untoward incident.
The NTF will consider installing a luggage and person checking system at each entrance of the hospital to ensure that weapons are not carried inside the medical establishment as well as to prevent inebriated persons from entering the premises of the medical establishment unless they are patients.
As far as infrastructure development is concerned, each department should have provision for separate rest rooms and duty rooms for male and female doctors and male and female nurses; and gender-neutral common resting places.
The rooms should be airy, have adequate bed space and drinking water facilities. Access to these rooms should be restricted through the installation of security devices, the document says.
In addition, the NTF will also focus on adopting appropriate technological interventions to regulate access to critical and sensitive areas, including the use of biometric and facial recognition.
The matters for consideration include ensuring adequate lighting at all places in the hospital, and in all places of the premises if the hospital is attached to a medical college, and installation of CCTV cameras at all entry and exit points of the hospital and in the corridors leading to all patient rooms.
If the hostels or rooms of the medical professionals are located far from the hospital, transportation should be arranged between 10 pm and 6 am for those who wish to travel from their place of stay to the hospital.
All medical establishments should employ social workers trained in grief and crisis counselling.
Under another sub-heading on prevention of sexual violence against medical professionals, the document underlined that the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 applies to hospitals and nursing homes (including private health providers). As per the provisions of the Act, Internal Complaints Committee This should be formed in all hospitals and nursing homes.
The document states that the term ‘medical professional’ includes every medical professional, including doctors, medical students undergoing compulsory rotating medical internship (CRMI) as part of the MBBS curriculum, resident doctors, senior resident doctors and nurses (including nursing interns).
The 10 members of the task force include Vice Admiral Aarti Sareen, Director General (Medical Services), Dr D Nageswara Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology and AIG Hospitals, Hyderabad, Dr M Srinivas, AIIMS-Delhi Director and Dr Pratima Murthy, Director, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru.
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