Violence Against Doctors

If what is shown in TV soap operas, widely considered to reflect the mood and pulse of the society, is any indicator to go by, then doctors being held by the collar by anxious relatives, is not surprising.  Aggression against doctors is on the rise and is imapacting the way doctors deal with patients.

If you ever had an emergency at home and wished the doctor would come running with just a phone call, you must have been disappointed. One of the direct fallouts of increased aggression has been the discontinuation of “home visits” by most GPs. The official explanation is the difficulty and inadequacy of organizing tests and medical support for a critically ill patient at home, but  at heart most doctors shudder at  being trapped in a sick patient’s home with anxious relatives demanding miracles, and threatening them if things don’t work out well. 

Physicians are nowadays wary of giving injections to seriously ill patients at homes and clinics lest his condition deteriorates and relatives ascribe it to the injection. This fear is costing lives as injectable emergency interventions such as adrenaline for severe allergic reactions, terlipressin for blood vomiting, anti-epileptics for fits are deferred till the patient reaches hospital, often a good 2 hours late, and sometimes just  too late.

Aggression against doctors is increasing in parallel to the increase in violence in society. Doctors report verbal abuses and threats, pulled by the collar or jostled, punched, stabbed with knives, have furniture thrown at them, hit with sticks or even shot with guns. In a survey of GPs in England reported in the Journal of Royal Society of Medicine, 73% reported aggression in a year and 87% worried about violence at work.

Vandasim is another form of violence and seems particularly common in India. Recently a mob smashed panes and set fire to a hospital in Kolkata for refusing to entertain a road traffic accident victim. A similar event that occured in Mumbai sometime ago sent fear waves down the spine of their staff.

Agression although encountered most commonly in Psychiatry clinics and in Accident and Emergency wards, can occur in any department. The typical agrressor patient is usually young, ofmale sex and often under the effect of alcohol or drugs. In emergency wards, the aggressors are usually relatives or companions of patients, often in large groups. The suddenness of the event such as a fatal accident, makes acceptance difficult, often leading to aggression. A long waiting time

 As published in HT City ( Hindustan Times) dated 22 august , 2010.