Imagining safe workplace for lifesavers
Image credit X.com @MayukhDuke
Junior doctors work in exploitative ecosystem
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, August 28: “I had an almost 40-hour schedule in operation theatre with breaks just for meals,” said a first-year post-graduate medical student and junior doctor in a Punjab-based hospital.
She said that there had been a gang war and the people with gun shots had come to the hospital. “Surgeon doctors are few, and those available have to work more. There is no schedule,” added the surgeon junior doctor.
She mentioned that being a junior doctor she also has to study for her three her post-graduate medical course. “The normal daily work schedule lasts for 13-14 hours,” added the junior doctor.
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Besides, she is also a junior doctor available on call for night emergency work if surgery is required in the operation theatre. “A pilot should sleep for at least eight hours before flying passengers. But here we doctors are sleep deprived, and life of patients are dependent on our surgery skills,” said the young 26-year-old junior doctor.
She also explained that surgeons “commit a number of blunders”. “If doctors are not mentally alert, the chances of blunders are huge and they are irreversible,” added the young doctor.
The Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Tuesday held a marathon meeting with members and stakeholders to prepare a safety protocol for women doctors. The Supreme Court after taking sou motu cognizance of the RG Kar junior doctor’s rape-murder has tasked the Cabinet Secretary to submit the report in three weeks.
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The first meeting of the top officials fetched 300-400 suggestions from the stakeholders. Gauba is set to submit report to the apex court after sifting and sizing up the suggestions.
On the day Gauba held deliberations with stakeholders, the police in Kolkata used water cannon, tear gas, and batons to disperse a large group of protestors. The protest was held against the rape-murder of the RG Kar junior doctor.
On the fateful night, the deceased junior doctor had retired to a conference room for rest after 13-hour work stint. The rape-murder of the junior doctor riled the intelligentsia of West Bengal.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) claims that women now outnumber men as healthcare professionals. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the government will create additional 60,000 medical seats in the colleges.
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Indian medical education eco-system already has over one lakh MBBS seats offered to students annually. States such as Odisha have achieved mandated patient-doctor ratio.
Yet, 13-hour work schedule for junior doctors remains norms across the country. “There is no time for gym or cycling. Once on an off-day, I venture out to the city to grab my favourite food,” added the junior doctor from Punjab.
Indeed, junior doctors are never financially compensated for extra hours of works. “Hospitals have fewer doctors than the requirement. This is the way those few doctors work for 13-14 hours a day,” added the junior doctor.
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