Around 80 per cent of the doctors, most of them working in emergency care, in Delhi-NCR had to face some degree of violence or aggression from patients and their relatives at the workplace, a recent survey by Indian Medical Association (IMA) has found.
"Maximum violent outbursts were faced by doctors working in emergency care. According to 90 per cent of the doctors surveyed, patients or their relatives often subject the doctors to unruly behaviour, verbal abuse and physical assault post surgery," K K Aggarwal, IMA National President said while speaking about the survey.
The IMA had carried out a survey on the around 300 doctors working in various hospitals in Delhi-NCR to document the concerns of consultant specialist doctors regarding increasing incidences of violence aimed at them.
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Apart from it, the survey found that patients of 83 per cent of the doctors got upset if the physicians were late in their appointments.
Also, doctors claimed that around 30 per cent of the patients or their relatives do not stand up when they enter in patients room while 17 per cent of the consultants felt that fee splitting was unethical.
"The other problem was under-reporting of such violent incidents by the doctors. While doctors may feel confident in voicing their concerns under the veil of an anonymous survey but when it come to routine practice, they are often reluctant to report such behaviour either out of fear or due to regard to patients distress and well-being, which they consider of supreme concern.
"Most of the reported cases were when the issue had gone out of hand, and the doctors feel that their own or family's life was under threat," Aggarwal added.
The rising incidences of such cases highlight the urgent need of boosting security measures at hospital premises.
"Strengthening doctor-patient relationships to ensure accountability and openness is also likely to play a key role in reducing violence and diffusing tense situations often encountered in the medical setting," he said.
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